Tombes en een moskee in Batwa bij Ahmedabad before 1866

This photograph of tombs and a mosque near Ahmedabad was captured by Thomas Biggs. It is one of many produced using the wet collodion process, a nineteenth-century technique that demanded speed and precision. In this method, a glass plate was coated with a light-sensitive emulsion right before exposure, meaning the photographer had to work swiftly. This was especially challenging in a place like India, where Biggs worked. Given the cumbersome equipment and the volatile chemicals involved, we can appreciate the labor and skill required to produce this image. Photography in the colonial era was as much about documentation as it was about artistry. This image reflects a desire to capture and categorize distant lands and cultures, and was inherently tied to the processes of imperial expansion and control. But beyond its documentary value, the photograph also presents a considered composition, revealing Biggs’ artistic sensibility. Thinking about the physical process and the socio-political context allows us to appreciate the many layers of meaning embedded in this seemingly straightforward image.