Onbekende mannen voor een tempel in een bos before 1895

This photograph of unknown men in front of a temple in a forest was taken by Michel Berthaud. Berthaud made this photograph some time in the late nineteenth, early twentieth century, when France and other European powers were expanding their empires across the globe. Although the location of the temple is unknown, its architecture suggests that it is probably in Southeast Asia. European colonial administrators and military officials often commissioned photographs of temples, landscapes, and people in the countries they occupied. They were used to create an archive of the new colony and to justify its occupation. The way the temple looms out of the forest in this photograph suggests the mysteriousness of the landscape. This is an effect of the cultural and political context in which it was made. It is an Orientalist image, one that exoticizes people and cultures outside of the western world. Photographs like this were collected in albums and scientific surveys, but they also circulated as postcards or illustrations in books. These and other resources would help us to understand better the impact and significance of the image.