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Visual and Material Proclamation: The Role of Photography in the Accession of Siam’s King Chulalongkorn in 1868

Fri, April 1, 10:30am to 12:30pm, Washington State Convention Center, Floor: 2nd Floor, Room 213

Abstract

Before the arrival of photography in Siam, the only evidence of visual discourse in representing people’s likeness was in paintings of unidentified figures in mural paintings in Buddhist temples. This lack of tradition reflected a public taboo against representing images of people within the Royal Siamese Court. The introduction of the first camera, the daguerreotype camera, in Siam in 1845 by French priest, Father Louis Larnaudie, would revolutionise this taboo, even though it took ten years to capture the first photograph of the Siamese King in 1855.

Prior to King Mongkut’s death in 1868, the King had inexplicably refused to state a preference as to his successor. However, Prince Chulalongkorn was enthroned by the accession council in 1868 when he was only fifteen years old. During this time patrilineal succession lack regulations in Siam’s palatine law, and was further complicated by the institution of a ‘second king’, moreover, through a series of domestic and regional political events during an era of colonial anxiety, the choice of Chulalongkorn was safer.

This paper will argue that in addition to acting as a political endorsement of King Chulalongkorn’s accession to the throne, his portraiture in the new medium of photography was also worked to cement his elevation. Three key photographs (including well-known portraits taken by John Thompson in 1865 and Frances Chit in 1868) will provide my methodological framework for investigating the implications and significance of the sartorial ‘materials’ and ‘objects’ embedded within these photographs. I will argue that the endorsement of Prince Chulalongkorn’s succession was made explicit through the use of photographs as both ‘visual’ and ‘material’ proclamation to the throne.

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