View of the City and Harbour of Colombo, from the St James Church Belfry, Sri Lanka 1862 - 1903

This is a photograph titled "View of the City and Harbour of Colombo, from the St James Church Belfry, Sri Lanka" by W.L.H. Skeen & Co. The composition is structured into three horizontal registers. A dense canopy of palm trees dominates the foreground, its complex texture creating a screen that both conceals and reveals. The middle ground presents a panorama of Colombo’s harbor, filled with ships. In the distance the cityscape is muted, under a pale sky. The photograph is not just a visual record; it’s a construction of space and power. The high vantage point and the formal arrangement of elements suggest a gaze that surveys and organizes the landscape. The photograph engages with notions of landscape as a symbol of control, reflecting a historical context in which colonial powers sought to map, understand, and govern distant lands. Through the visual order and spatial arrangement of natural and man-made elements, the image conveys a narrative about how space is perceived and organized, influenced by the cultural values and power dynamics inherent to its time.