Untitled (village near bazaar) c. 1860 - 1880

Curator: This is a photograph, "Untitled (village near bazaar)," by Willoughby Wallace Hooper. Editor: It's so textural! Look at the layering of the thatched roof, the roughhewn walls, even the packed earth. You can almost feel the grit. Curator: Hooper was a British officer who documented life in India during the late 19th century. His work circulated widely, shaping perceptions of colonial subjects. Editor: I'm struck by how the structure seems born of the earth. It's built from what's immediately available—the mud, the straw, the trees—a testament to ingenuity. Curator: Indeed, and the composition suggests a certain intimacy. Hooper's framing invites the viewer into this domestic scene, to witness a moment of everyday life. Editor: But it's also a carefully constructed image, right? Meant for consumption back home? Curator: Precisely. And those images, while seemingly objective, played a role in constructing and perpetuating colonial narratives. Editor: Looking at the materials and labor here reminds me of the power dynamics inherent in image-making itself. Curator: Exactly, and it calls on us to think about art's relationship with power. Editor: Yes, and about the hands and materials that make our histories possible.