Oriental for a Day

Abstract

In so-called Oriental photo shoots, women stage themselves to convey an image of opulence, eroticism, mysticism, etc. After a brief review of the visual representation of the Orient in ethnographic photographs, tourist imagery, and art, the article turns to the scene of staged photography, in which the Other – even if only imagined – is experienced on one’s own body in contrast to other forms of representation. In-depth interviews with amateur models who describe themselves either as “German” or “Oriental” identify motivations for these stagings, among them the expression of femininity, nostalgia, and the longing for spirituality. These aspects can be condensed into two areas of conflict: the negotiation of sexuality, which in the image of the Oriental woman seems on the one hand untamed, on the other hand oppressed, and the compensation of shortcomings of one’s own cultural context, which nevertheless appears as without alternative in real life. Finally, the evaluation of the phenomenon will be discussed – to what extent the embodiment entails aspects beyond mere fascination and to what extent it is a matter of creativity or cultural appropriation.