Subtle Gestures is a photographic collage series that examines the historical photographs of Chinese immigration in Calgary after the lifting of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1947. The Chinese Immigration Act banned Chinese immigrants from entering Canada from the period of 1923-1947. The photographic series attempts to look at the perceived integration of Chinese immigrants as they begin a new life and new chapter as Chinese Canadians.
Photographs have a way of clarifying perspective and vision, but at the same time they also have the ability to confuse and contort reality. On one hand an argument can be made that the photograph is an image captured via a camera of a moment in time hence rendering a truth about a moment in time. On the other hand one must consider everything that is not included in the picture frame for example what are the circumstances/factors/reasons that surround the act of photographing.
As this duality is forever tied with photography I’ve begun to think about this in my research of Chinese diaspora in Canada. Looking through archival photographs of Chinese immigration at a recent exhibit at the Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre about the history of Chinese in Calgary made me consider who was behind the camera lens of these photographs. I then sourced many of these images from the Glenbow Museum Archives many of which were donated from the Calgary Herald.
The images from the Calgary Herald describe a shift in the depiction of Chinese immigrants in the 1950’s after the removal of the Chinese Immigration Act in Canada from 1923-1947. They depict the perspective of Chinese immigrants amalgamating themselves into Canadian society.
