Kuttam-pokuna 1896

Henry William Cave captured the Kuttam-pokuna with photography, a relatively new medium in his time. Cave’s choice of photography, with its mechanical precision, highlights a shift towards industrial methods of image-making, contrasting with the handcraft of painting or drawing. The monochromatic tones and the way light and shadow play across the image, speak to the chemical processes at play in the darkroom, a kind of alchemy translated into reproducible form. This was a mode of production that democratized image creation. The photograph itself becomes a commodity, reproducible and distributable, embedding it within systems of labor and consumption. Unlike a unique painting, the photograph could be endlessly printed, bought, and sold, reflecting the burgeoning consumer culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The image's materiality invites us to consider how photography itself is shaped by the social and economic forces of its time.