Darjeeling c. 1880s

Editor: This is Francis Frith's photograph, "Darjeeling." It's a landscape, and the sepia tones give it such a vintage feel. What strikes me is the way the built environment nestles into the hills. What do you see in this image? Curator: I see a calculated construction of empire. Frith was commissioned to create these images, which were then consumed by a British audience eager for a visual connection to their colonial holdings. The very act of photographing and distributing these images was a form of material control. Editor: So the photograph itself becomes a commodity? Curator: Exactly! And the labor involved in its creation and distribution further solidified the economic structures of colonialism. Even the paper and chemicals used were part of this global network of production and consumption. Editor: I never considered that! Thinking about it as a manufactured object, rather than just a pretty picture, really changes my perspective. Curator: Precisely. It encourages us to see beyond the surface and delve into the material realities behind the image.