20世纪初，西方摄影师和以庄学本为代表的中国摄影师在川藏地区留下了丰富的影像史料，其呈现出的族群形象特点分别反映了东西方社会不同的文化传统和时代诉求。西方摄影师通过聚焦各种前现代的生产方式、贫困的生活状态以及残疾体征、刑罚等内容主题，使得这一地区的族群形象呈现出“落后、贫穷、野蛮”的负面特征。而庄学本拍摄的川藏边地民众生产劳动场景和肖像照，呈现出他们“优美、健康、富足”的正面形象。造成这种不同的原因，首先是东西方摄影师在这一区域进行拍摄的目的和出发点不同，其次是客观因素如拍摄状态、与拍摄对象的沟通关系等对照片内容产生影响。其根源在于东西方摄影师受到各自意识形态的深刻影响。东西方影像中川藏地区族群形象的对立，本质上反映了东西方社会文化与意识形态的对立，是西方人带有殖民主义、种族主义色彩的观察视角与中华民族自我觉醒、自我表达的对立。西人影像中体现的川藏族群形象在视觉传统上属于西方对“东方/异域”长期观察的一部分，在思想文化上属于西方根据自身文化诉求塑造的“中国形象”的一部分，统一于西方现代文化和殖民主义文化构成的整体。而庄学本影像中塑造的川藏边地少数民族的正面形象，是对长期以来处在“文化边缘”的少数民族进行污名化、“非人化”的传统民族观的反叛，是现代民族国家意识的重要组成部分。 对影像的史学考察需要将照片看做拍摄者意图的生成物。拍摄活动不是单纯的个人行为和客观实在的反应，它们受到技术的制约，也受到当时的审美习惯、拍摄传统、观看兴趣及其他社会因素的影响，摄影活动由此具备了一种社会性和历史性。影像是一种社会实践，影像中体现的族群形象知识是历史文化研究的独特材料。

Western photographers and Chinese photographers represented by Zhuang Xueben have left abundant historical photographic materials in Sichuan-Tibet border in the early 20th century. By focusing on various pre-modern production modes, poor living conditions, physical signs of disabilities, and punishments, western photographers presented the negative characteristics of ‘backwardness, poverty, and barbarism’ in the image of ethnic groups in this region. Zhuang Xueben's labor scenes and portraits of people in Sichuan-Tibet border show their positive images of ‘beauty, health and wealth’. The reasons for this difference are firstly the different purposes and starting points of the eastern and western photographers, and secondly some objective factors, such as the shooting state and the communication relationship between photographers and the subject, had a significant impact on the photographs. The root cause is that the eastern and western photographers were deeply influenced by their respective ideologies. The antagonism between the images of ethnic groups in Sichuan-Tibet border in the eastern and western photographs essentially reflected the antagonism between the social culture and ideology of the east and the west, and between the self-awakening and self-expression of the Chinese nation from the perspective of western colonialism and racist prejudice. The images of Sichuan-Tibetan ethnic group reflected in the western photographs are traditionally part of the long-term observation of "Oriental/Exotic" by the west, and part of the ‘Chinese image’ according to western cultural demands in terms of ideology and culture, which are unified with the whole western modern colonial culture. The positive image of ethnic minorities in Sichuan-Tibet boarder created by Zhuang Xueben can be seen as a rebellion against the Chinese traditional national concept of stigmatization and dehumanization of ethnic minorities who have been on the ‘cultural edge’ for a long time, and it is an important part of Chinese modern national consciousness. The historical study of images requires photographs as the product of the photographer's intention. Photography is not a simple individual behavior and objective reality of the reaction, they are restricted by technology, but also by the aesthetic habits of the time, shooting tradition, watching interest and other social factors, photography has a social and historical activity. Therefore, photography can be regarded as a social practice, and the knowledge of ethnic image reflected in the photographs is a unique material for historical cultural research.