Portret van een onbekende Lepcha vrouw uit Sikkim before 1868

Editor: Here we have an albumen print, a photographic portrait taken before 1868 by Benjamin Simpson. It’s titled "Portret van een onbekende Lepcha vrouw uit Sikkim," or "Portrait of an Unknown Lepcha Woman from Sikkim." It's a pretty straightforward image, but the woman's gaze makes it so compelling, a bit melancholy, I think. What do you see in it? Curator: Well, first, let's remember photography then was so new, still a little like alchemy! For her to sit for this portrait, the lights, the exposure... imagine her thoughts. Her gaze seems inward, yes, perhaps a touch sad. I wonder what the photographer asked of her. Was she compensated? Did she understand where this image might travel? The very act feels weighted with so many unknowns, a real document of encounter. Editor: That makes me think about the photographer's intentions. Was it anthropological? Artistic? Curator: Likely both intertwined. Think of the Western fascination with the "exotic" at that time, the impulse to document, to classify. And photography, still striving for legitimacy as art. Each portrait from this era has this echo of both wanting to capture beauty and claim scientific objectivity, almost a dance. Editor: A dance, that's a good way of putting it. I definitely have a new perspective after hearing that. Curator: And that's the joy, isn't it? Each artwork whispers different stories as we bring our own questions to its surface.