Fotoreproductie van Chasse aux Tigres door Jean Baptiste Robie before 1883

This photograph of Jean Baptiste Robie's "Chasse aux Tigres" was created by Alexandre, sometime between the mid-19th and early 20th century. The original painting depicts a tiger hunt, a popular subject that reflected both European colonial adventures and their aesthetic interests in exotic locales. The photograph itself participates in a complex network of cultural reproduction. It democratizes the image, making it accessible to a wider audience beyond the elite circles who might view the original painting. Photography, as a medium, also carries its own set of associations with scientific documentation, thus framing the hunt within a context of exploration and control. What is the public role of this kind of imagery, especially when tied to colonial power dynamics? Art historians often investigate exhibition records, period publications, and personal archives to understand how such images were received and what social functions they served. By examining the afterlife of images like these, we gain insight into the ever-shifting politics of visual representation.