Haven't seen the whole series, to be honest. But the "tribes" episode was quite disturbing at times. How I see it, there were some serious issues concerning the objectification of the indigenous people ("my subjects", as the photographer -Art Wolfe- calls them). Some scenes in particular (but certainly not solely) where Wolfe was setting the "stage" for his photograph, i.e. the indigenous people, asked to perform their tribalism in front of the western audiences ("my audience", as Wolfe describes). There's your scent of cultural imperialism (and of an overambitious western professional), or of the colonization of the Other, if you prefer, the Other who is, only when in contact with the western and only as the western wishes to see her.
This objectification, however, is well disguised by Wolfe's ambition to keep a record of vanishing cultures for mankind, there is even a manifestation, where the photographer realizes that (I quote): "the western civilization was gonna slam into their culture." Without realizing that his camera does exactly the same thing: there's your tribe, as colorful and as primitive as you expect it to be.
There are of course some really powerful pictures and a very professional approach through every segment of the film, I just wonder whether it is really necessary to make this kind of docs, if this quest for the "perfect" and "powerful" photograph is really worthy. To me it just brings afront the same old power relations between the West and its Others. I could (or rather, I'm trying to) live without them.
