Range of Snowy Peaks above Gangootni Glaciers c. 1870s

Editor: Samuel Bourne's "Range of Snowy Peaks above Gangootni Glaciers" captures a majestic mountainscape. The sepia tone lends a timeless quality. How did this photograph function within the broader context of 19th-century British colonialism? Curator: Bourne's work needs to be seen as part of the British Empire's visual project. These images not only documented landscapes but also asserted a kind of visual ownership and control. How do you think this imagery shaped perceptions of India back in Britain? Editor: It likely reinforced ideas of exoticism and the power of the empire to reach even the most remote locations. I guess I hadn’t considered it as an assertion of power before. Curator: Precisely. The act of photographing, collecting, and displaying these images in institutions back home solidified imperial authority. It makes you think about the politics inherent in landscape photography, doesn’t it? Editor: It certainly does! I’ll never look at a landscape photograph the same way again.