Untitled (a Toda family) c. 1860 - 1880

Curator: What a striking image! This is "Untitled (a Toda family)" by Willoughby Wallace Hooper. Hooper, who lived from 1837 to 1912, captured this photograph, now held in the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It feels raw and a little bit haunting, doesn’t it? Their expressions are so direct, almost confronting. There's a vulnerability, even though they’re clearly posing. Curator: Hooper was part of the British colonial administration in India, and photography was often used to document and categorize indigenous populations. Editor: That colonial gaze is palpable. Yet, there's a human connection here too, wouldn't you say? I wonder what the subjects thought as they were photographed. It feels charged with unspoken narratives. Curator: Absolutely, and the composition – the man centered, the women flanking him – reinforces certain power dynamics, but perhaps, also familial bonds. It's complex. Editor: It makes you think about the ethics of representation, doesn't it? I'm left pondering the layers of cultural translation and the enduring power of a single captured moment.