Four-armed Shiva in a niche, holding a rosary and a flywhisk. Possibly 1864 - 1867

Isidore Kinsbergen created this image of a Four-armed Shiva in a niche using photography, a relatively new medium for the time. Kinsbergen was active in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, during a period of intense colonial activity. This photograph invites us to consider how colonial perspectives intersect with religious iconography. As a European photographer, Kinsbergen occupied a position of power, documenting and interpreting cultural artifacts from a foreign land. The photograph does capture the aesthetic details of the Shiva sculpture, but perhaps more importantly, the image also serves as a record of colonial engagement with Eastern spirituality. Consider the act of photographing a religious icon—what does it mean to frame and capture an image of a deity? How does the photograph affect our perception of Shiva? The photograph removes the sculpture from its original cultural and spiritual context, transforming it into an object of study.