Drie mensen van de Sansias-stam in Delhi before 1869

This photograph of three Sansias people in Delhi, India, was made by Shepherd & Robertson using a specialized process called albumen print. This process involves coating paper with egg whites and silver nitrate. After the paper dries in the dark, it can be placed in contact with a negative and exposed to sunlight. Depending on weather conditions, printing out the image could take as little as 15 minutes, or several hours. These materials and labor-intensive techniques were a far cry from today's point-and-shoot technologies, and the use of photography in the late 19th century was tied to the expansion of colonial power. We should understand the image as something produced through a series of actions – applying the coating, exposing to light, printing the final image. This is an object that carries traces of the time, energy, and labor involved in its making, and we can appreciate it all the more by considering its wider social and cultural implications.