Portret van twee onbekende mannen uit Sindh before 1872

Henry Charles Baskerville Tanner, took this albumen print, titled 'Portret van twee onbekende mannen uit Sindh' or 'Portrait of two unknown men from Sindh.' This photograph is an example of the ethnographic studies popular during the colonial era. It depicts two men identified as "Sindee and Belochee Mussulmans" from the Sindh region, now part of Pakistan. The image is not merely a neutral record; it reflects the power dynamics inherent in colonial photography, through which individuals were often reduced to types that reinforced the colonizer's worldview. Consider how this image might have been used to categorize and differentiate populations within the British Empire. It’s a visual document, but also a cultural artifact that speaks volumes about how identities were perceived, constructed, and misrepresented through the lens of colonial power. What narratives and histories are obscured by this depiction?