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This is a really interesting and timely discussion! Sorry if I get a little off topic...
I believe when historians will look back at the girls/ women in white dresses, or the many cowboy scenes, native americans in head dress, and to most work of people in costume made in this day, they might come to the conclusion that people didn't really accept themselves as they are now and their place in the modern world. I think they'll see most weren't proud of this lifestyle of lounging around in shorts and t-shirts watching t.v., or driving from A to B and I think they'll see that there was a lack of culture that people were trying to find, even by recreating images of the passed.
If an artist is on vacation and they paint scenes of the people they meet or see, it's a way of chronicling their own lives as much as it is showing the new world they've been lucky enough to witness. When Sargent took a trip to Spain he created many paintings of spanish dancers with beautiful dresses and bright colors. I'm sure he didn't think he was exploiting them, he was just sharing in his work what captivated him. I believe it's more of an admiration of those things that are different from ourselves that some of us are attracted to and wish to capture in our work. Not for exploitation purposes, but for just trying to capture some of the beauty in the world that is going on in our life time. And some of us may feel we have to look outside of our own culture to find it.
I don't see Sargent's painting of a Parisian begger girl as exploitation. I've often thought about doing a portrait of a woman who lives near me on the sidewalk with her pet bunny. I just think she embodies the "interesting" aspect that a lot of ordinary people may not exude as well (and of course I'd pay her.). I see her so many days she has become part of my own life.
This Saturday my husband and I will be going on a two week trip to Senegal, Africa. And I can not wait to see what life is like there. I know I will be taking hundreds of photos and I hope some will be great references to work from. I'm excited to try to paint the rich colors of the dark skin and the lovely features that are different from my own. It will not only be a record of my own life and what I've seen but will hopefully share the beauty I find in another culture as well.
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