[Countess Canning with Guest, Government House, Allahabad] 1858

This 1858 albumen print, titled "[Countess Canning with Guest, Government House, Allahabad]" by John Constantine Stanley, depicts Countess Canning, the wife of the Governor-General of India, and an unidentified guest at Government House in Allahabad. The photograph, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, captures a moment of social interaction in a colonial context. The informal composition, with the women positioned against a backdrop of foliage, evokes a sense of leisure and domesticity. Stanley, a photographer active in India during the mid-19th century, documented life in the region, capturing both portraits and scenes of daily life.