Buspa Valley, Ganootri; View Taken From Above Neithal c. 1867

Editor: This striking albumen print, "Buspa Valley, Ganootri; View Taken From Above Neithal," was captured by Samuel Bourne. It's incredibly detailed. What can you tell me about the context of its making? Curator: Bourne's work reveals much about the colonial project. Consider the silver albumen process: a Western technology, transported to document and, in effect, claim the landscape. The labor involved – from sourcing materials to the arduous process of developing plates in the field – speaks to the exertion of control. How does this influence your reading of the image? Editor: It makes me think about the resources required to make it, and whose stories are left out. Thanks. Curator: Precisely. Photography like this shaped perceptions and reinforced power structures. Food for thought.