Untitled (struture among trees) c. 1860 - 1880

Editor: Here we have Willoughby Wallace Hooper's photograph, *Untitled (structure among trees)*. It's a small print, and the tones are quite muted. There's this intriguing hut-like structure nestled among all these trees. What can you tell me about it? Curator: Consider the raw materials: the wood, the thatch. Where did those come from? Whose labor constructed that shelter, and under what conditions? Hooper, as a colonial administrator, documents a material reality shaped by power dynamics. What is he consuming by photographing it? Editor: So, you're saying the photograph itself is a product of that colonial system, exploiting the materials and labor present in the image? I see it differently now. Curator: Exactly. It makes us think about the means of image production and its relationship to the social realities of its time.