Calcutta Panorama #5 1867

Editor: Here we have "Calcutta Panorama #5," a photograph of Calcutta by Samuel Bourne. Looking at it, I feel a sense of distance, both geographically and historically, it feels quite detached. How do you see this work? Curator: I agree, there's a real feeling of looking *at* rather than *being in* Calcutta, isn't there? Bourne, as a British photographer, perhaps inevitably brought a colonial gaze. The sepia tones enhance that sense of history, that this is a world we can only glimpse now. What do you make of the scale, the way the city stretches out? Editor: It emphasizes the vastness of Calcutta, but also a sort of uniformity, with similar buildings repeating. Curator: Precisely. It raises questions about power, representation, and whose story is being told. A single image, but a whole world of stories within, wouldn't you say? Editor: Absolutely. It’s made me think about the photographer's role in shaping our view of a place.