Groepsportret van Arthur Kennedy, prins George van Wales en prins Albert Victor van Wales en gasten te Brisbane before 1881

This is an anonymous photograph of Arthur Kennedy, Prince George, Prince Albert Victor of Wales, and their guests in Brisbane. It captures a moment deeply embedded in the colonial history of Australia. The image speaks volumes about power, privilege, and the gaze of empire. The composition places the British royals in the foreground, figures central to the machinery of colonial administration, surrounded by other colonial administrators and their subordinates. It tells of the rigid social hierarchy that characterized colonial society. Consider the absence of Indigenous Australians from this picture. Their land is the backdrop, yet they are excluded from this scene of colonial celebration and governance, which speaks volumes about erasure, dispossession, and the denial of Indigenous sovereignty. The photograph thus serves not only as a historical document but as a stark reminder of the complexities and injustices inherent in the colonial project. It prompts reflection on whose stories are told and whose are silenced.