Peradeniya gardens c. 1900

Henry William Cave created this photographic print of Peradeniya Gardens. Cave was a British photographer known for documenting Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries when it was under British colonial rule. In this image we see lush botanical gardens alongside the road. Peradeniya Gardens were established under British rule, and Cave’s photographs of them reflect the colonial gaze, emphasizing the exotic and picturesque aspects of the landscape. However, the inclusion of elephants and their mahouts, or keepers, also subtly hints at the labor and exploitation inherent in the colonial project. Cave’s work therefore stands as a complex visual record, reflecting the beauty of the land and also the complicated dynamics of power and representation during this period. The image is tinged with the personal histories of the colonizers and the colonized.