The Kandyan district c. 1900

Henry William Cave produced this photograph of 'The Kandyan District' in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, at an unknown date. Here, we have two images in dialogue: one showing the landscape, and the other depicting the people who occupy it. How might these images function as cultural documents? How did Cave, a British photographer working in the colonial era, construct his narrative of Ceylon? In whose interests did he do it? As art historians, we can analyze the image’s composition, lighting, and subject matter, but to gain a deeper understanding of Cave's image, we can draw on sources like colonial archives, travel writing, and postcolonial studies. The goal is to reveal the power dynamics inherent in representing a place and its people. We ask: does the image reinforce existing social hierarchies, or does it offer a more nuanced perspective?