We’ve got the sun under our skin is a series of photographs and texts illustrating the incremental effects that colonial literature has on the construction of modern identity. Drawing from...
We’ve got the sun under our skin is a series of photographs and texts illustrating the incremental effects that colonial literature has on the construction of modern identity. Drawing from 20th century British travelogues and ethnographic accounts in Malaya, images are created in response to the stories. Shot entirely in Britain, the photographs function as portrayals of the explorers’ experiences in the Straits Settlements—a mimicry to subvert the orientalist gaze.
British Malaya, Frank Swettenham, 1906: "In the house they wear a sarong and a loose jacket, long or short, but when dressed to be seen they often wear two sarongs, one over the other, and a long jacket of silk or satin, fastened in front by three gold or jewelled brooches."