Twee façades met versieringen in Shanghai voor het diamanten jubileum van Victoria van het Verenigd Koninkrijk 1897

W.R. Kahler created these photographic prints in Shanghai, as part of a bound volume. They document the decorations erected to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Photography, as a process, involves the careful manipulation of chemistry and optics, and the mass reproduction of images that was made possible by the industrial revolution. These techniques allowed the global dissemination of imagery, of great importance for the projection of colonial power. The printing press played a role, too, since it enabled Kahler to include these images in a bound volume, further amplifying their reach. Consider, also, the social context of these images. Shanghai, during this period, was a treaty port, a site of intense cultural exchange and also stark inequality. The decorations on the façades represent an effort to visually assert British dominance, using the urban environment as a canvas for imperial propaganda. Recognizing the ways in which materials, making, and context intertwine encourages us to look beyond the surface of an artwork, towards a deeper understanding of its historical significance.