Tijdschrift voor Mediageschiedenis

In the introduction to this special issue about looking at nature – which is also being published as a book with the title Looking at nature. Jumping out of the moral? – the concept of ‘looking’ itself is first of all approached from several perspectives. Then Dutch law concerning nature and the development of technical drawings of wildlife images are considered. The article discusses, in general terms, the historical development of illustrations of nature and animals, what man used to think of nature and animals, and what he thinks of them now. It considers how the thinking about animals has developed in the West and led to the current ambiguity of either great indifference or intense concern. The conviction that culture and nature are closely interwoven, yet too frequently seen as separate disciplines, is the guiding principle behind the argument.

Over the last decade the interest in the role and meaning of animals in our media and popular culture has grown worldwide within the social sciences, in particular the humanities. The area of interest includes the interaction of such culture with living animals in today’s society. This article sketches the development of this new interdisciplinary trend, which is now known as ‘animal studies’. Beginning with fundamental questions about the reasons why humans and animals have become alienated and the consequences thereof, it then analyses the importance and influence of the way animals are represented in texts and genres such as cartoons, art and commercials as well as in the news, nature documentaries and films. As a result strategies are suggested for presenting ‘better’ images of and stories about animals in today’s media culture, which would give us a deeper understanding of the fundamental differences and above all the similarities between ‘human animals’ and ‘non-human animals’.

The article explores early moving images of animals in promotional and publicity materials. Despite the lack of a complete, cross-media historical study of what is now called ‘wildlife films’, the film-historical discourse that does exist about this genre of films is dominated by a scientific approach that stresses the increasing naturalness and effect on salving the conscience. In this essay I argue a case for returning to a neglected element of this history, namely early commercial films about animals. By matching the different nomenclature that can be found in catalogues, advertisements and programmes and that are a part of the institutionalization of the cinema as an industry, the limits of the notion of genre and content in reconstructing a history of this type of imaging become clear.

The Dutch film director Bert Haanstra (1916-1997) has made several films about animals that have been distributed internationally. His documentary Ape and Super Ape (Dutch: bij de beesten af) from 1972 was nominated for an Oscar. He had previously won an Oscar for his documentary glass (1958). In this article historian Hans Schoots researches the production and the Dutch reception of Ape and Super Ape and considers its place in the debate on ‘nature and nurture’ of the seventies. Inspired by the ethological views of Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen, among others, Haanstra sought in his film for parallels between human and animal behaviour. In the polarized atmosphere of the seventies, this lead to sharp criticism by the believers in ‘nurture’ and praise by those who believed in ‘nature’. Ape and Super Ape was intended and received as a warning about ecological catastrophe.

Illustrations of falconry, of both tame and wild falcons, play a significant role in the representation and experience of nature in all its aspects. The origin of falconry goes back more than 3.000 years. A bas-relief depicting a man with a falcon on his hand, which was found in the Babylonian city of Nineveh, has been dated back to 700 years B.C. One of the first eyewitnesses of falconry was Marco Polo who observed ‘thousands’ of falconers with their birds, especially lanner, saker and peregrine falcons, during his travels in Mongolia and China in about 1298. From then on, during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the emphasis in paintings and statues is on falcons as hooded birds. Aristocratic falconers and noblemen proudly show the tame bird, wearing a decorated cap, perched on their left fist. In such pictures the noblemen are clearly demonstrating their mastery over the birds. However, from the nineteenth century onwards, the birds are no longer depicted hooded. Instead modern painters depict the birds as wild creatures with fierce eyes and sharp wings. Of course, the rise of photography has played an important role in this changing representation of the falcons. They are no longer birds that belong to man as their master; they are free creatures of the wild skies, and even cities. The way falcons are depicted represents very well how we experience nature: the hooded bird as a servant of man and the wild bird as a free creature independent of man and, if it is tame, then a bird that is simultaneously wild and obedient. It’s on this intersection that we experience nature as the creation of a wild world and a world that we would like to understand and capture.

Birds play an important role in Dutch art from the Golden Age and the period of the Enlightenment. They are a prominent feature of many paintings and drawings either visually or symbolically. Considering the attractiveness of the subject it is quite surprising that art historians have to date failed to pay attention to it in a wider context in the same way as they have with flowers. In this discussion a closer look is taken at the presentation of birds in various genres of Dutch 17th and 18th century paintings, with the representations by Melchior d’Hondecoeter and Aert Schouman as highlights. It becomes clear, among other things, that the function of the birds differs considerably in each genre. Some guidelines are given for further research into the number, the status and the reputation of bird artists; the contacts between artists and their public; the roles that a feeling for nature and hunting play; and the relationship between art and science. Furthermore, using some examples it is shown that an analysis of birds in paintings can generate some interesting new questions from a field biology perspective. This not only prevents incorrect identifications but also spurs on the research into art. Questions concerning the identification of painted birds, the variety of species per painting and per artist, their preference for particular species of birds, the occurrence and geographical distribution of painted birds throughout the seasons, their suggested biotope, the presence and availability of exotic birds in menageries and nature collections, and the development of taxidermy can give new insights into the artists ideals and methods. Conversely, an analysis of the historical visual material, if carried out with great care, can also give biological information about the presence of certain birds species in the 17th and 18th centuries.

In the course of the 19th and 20th centuries images of birds have proliferated and become part of popular culture. The article argues that this increasing popularity, and its ambivalent effects, can be explained by considering the (new) media that has been used and introduced into bird-watching and the representation of birds. Some basic characteristics of birds (e.g. that they fly, that they fly away when approached, that they sing, and that only a limited number of local species exist) are particularly appropriate for the opportunities and challenges of new media that have been introduced in the course of the twentieth century. Consequently, a media-historical perspective may offer a complementary approach to the growing historical literature on birds, bird-watching and bird protection, which is especially suitable for considering nineteenth-century developments, and often refers to different explanatory mechanisms (such as modernisation, increased sensibilities and nationalism).

The study of acoustic communication between animals forms an important theme in research into behavioural biology at universities around the world. Particularly bird sounds have therefore been studied and continue to be studied in the Netherlands, and they are also extremely popular among amateur sound-hunters. As a result of technological developments over the last century in the fields of sound recording, production and processing quite a number of technical tools have become available to scientists as well as hobbyists. This article briefly describes the contribution of several historically important biologists and a selection of discoveries about and insights into the vocal language of animals. The examples have been chosen to illustrate how scientific progress has been made as a result of technological advancement. The article concludes with a short summary about how the acoustic medium is being exploited by several groups of people in modern society to gain and share knowledge, and above all to enjoy the beauty and diversity of sounds from the natural world.

Since the early days of biology, habitus drawings have accompanied texts. This holds especially for taxonomic research, where these drawings are indispensable to illustrating the characteristics of species. Habitus drawings do not represent individual traits, but summarise shared features that set one species apart from another. As such, they are not mere registrations of reality; they are ideograms, transferring the essence of reality as perceived in the scientists’ mind onto paper. In our days of digital imagery, handmade drawings still have a role to play. In this article the author reviews the habitus drawings in Naturalis, the Dutch national natural history museum, and one of the last strongholds of this classical technique of visual expression.

Despite the fact that nature films are extremely popular with the public, until recently hardly anything has been written about them as a genre. For a long time they have been regarded as a sub-genre of scientific films, which are expected to relate only facts. The individual producer’s personal vision is not called for in such documentaries. Such a view is mistaken. By analysing the documentary avonturen op het land (Adventures in the Countryside, 1979) this article argues that in an approach wherein aesthetics and technology are central, nature films should be positioned completely differently. Motivated by their desire to extend the boundaries of our natural observation producers of nature films have in fact introduced important innovations that have led to an entirely individual and recognisable aesthetic. This desire was developed in a film culture where avant-garde film producers, scientific film directors and amateur filmmakers collectively explored the possibilities of the medium. Ed van der Elsken’s nature film can be categorised within this tradition.

This article focuses on the development of sensation in wildlife films. Nature films produced by Walt Disney and Jacques Cousteau in the 1950s are compared with recent films by Steve Irwin and the bbc. Does the belief that media content has generally become more and more sensational also apply to this film genre? Not much research has been done into wildlife films over the years, so they are a rewarding research object. One person who has researched this subject is Derek Bousé. His work is quoted frequently in this article as his book Wildlife Films (2000) contains a lot of useful information. Bousé’s theories, but also those of Greg Mitman (1999), Meryl Aldridge & Robert Dingwall (2003), and Simon Cottle (2004) are used to construct a general theoretical framework about the history of wildlife films, the narrative, subgenres and the commercialization of the genre. The research was carried out using a list of sensation characteristics composed by Nuijten (2007). The method for the actual research on sensation was prepared using theories from Bordwell & Thompson (2001) and Hansen et al. (1998). The analysis explains whether the viewer is being presented with a realistic picture of nature or one that has been heavily dramatized. Furthermore, it establishes whether sensation plays a greater role these days than it has in the past. Here’s a clue: lions are not the active hunters we think they are...

Society regards rats as animals that we associate with disease. In laboratories the natural rat has been transformed into a data-generating model and has thus become the representation of scientific progress: health overcomes sickness; good overcomes evil. The rat appears to have gained the twin status of being, on the one hand, a carrier of disease and, on the other hand, a data-generating adversary of disease. In view of this transformation a striking trend is apparent in the current media world: cartoon films with rats in the lead role. Perhaps these films can play an important role in liberating the rat from being a figure of data in the laboratory. Taking the films the secret of nimh and ratatouille as case studies, this article considers to what extent the films express criticism about the use of rats in laboratories.

Dutch nature and wildlife filmmaking has a long history, starting with the pioneering work of the wealthy Swiss ornithologist Ad Burdet (1860-1940). Directors of international renown such as Bert Haanstra (1916-1997) and Hugo van Lawick (1937- 2002) were active alongside filmmakers who remained largely anonymous to the public. Many of the nature filmmakers who are still active have built up a considerable oeuvre and have collected a library of stock shots. Young filmmakers still find nature films a worthwhile proposition and a number of amateurs are also making active contributions. Compared to the Anglo-Saxon world nature films in the Netherlands have a low status and modest production budgets. There is no association to look after the particular interests of the Dutch nature filmmakers and prestigious awards can only be won abroad. There is no catalogue for nature films and stock footage, nor for historic or contemporary images. Furthermore, it isn’t clear where these films are being kept: in the offices of the filmmakers concerned, or of the nature protection organizations that commissioned the films, or in the audiovisual archives (Sound and Vision, Film Museum). In order to fill this void, the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision and the National Natural History Museum Naturalis have started the project Dutch Nature Film Collection. The collection will not only bring together data on nature films past and present, but will also offer access to films and stock footage via a digital platform. Nature protection organizations and broadcasters alike have shown considerable interest in this initiative.

Documentary producers and animal ecologists are opening up their hearts about the developments in nature and in the countryside over the last half century: about what is being lost because of a lack of care or because we are allowing other interests, such as self-interest, to prevail. It should be possible to remodel the rigorous research that has been carried out into both the decline of animal numbers and into animal behaviour so that it can be seen in conjunction with art, in this case film art. The aim is not only to draw attention to the painful developments but also to raise viewers’ awareness. In this way viewers can be informed objectively about the world where they live and given the feeling of being involved, and they can draw their own conclusions from the information.