This slide in my opinion is a very powerful image in terms of the context of photography and identity. There's always biasness behind the lens. The photographer has the power to depict what he wants the viewer to see and how he wants his subject to be. As Gilles explained to us, in the past the Emperor and the Empress in Japan are known to be Gods, hence, untouchable. No one has ever seen them. But somehow this photo by Uchida Kuichi was leaked and sold in the market like some kind of souvenir. It's like they were legends, unseeable and untouchable but now they're not a mystery anymore, it became accessible and visible, the whole riddle of it is gone.

 

Ironically too, due to the accessibility of photography, everyone seemed to want their photographs taken, eternalising themselves. This shows that the same medium can work both different ways in regards to identity ; from emperor, (god-like status) to commodity and from normal people with fame to becoming a celebrity (an icon).