Trees on the Dal lake canal, with two fishermen in the foreground 1864 - 1865

Samuel Bourne made this photograph of the Dal lake canal, with two fishermen in the foreground. Bourne was part of a wave of 19th-century British photographers who traveled to India to document the landscape and its people. The image appears serene, yet it embodies the complicated relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. The photograph aestheticizes the Indian landscape, and the two fishermen are viewed through a Western lens, reducing them to exotic figures within a picturesque scene. Bourne’s work was often commissioned by the British government, so it served to reinforce colonial power by creating a visual record of British presence and influence in India. How do the identities and histories of those who are represented get suppressed? The men, seemingly frozen in time, confront us with questions about representation, power, and the colonial gaze. It invites reflection on the ethics of representation and the importance of reclaiming marginalized narratives.