Biddende jongen en een meisje achter een lessenaar met een boek in Chota Nagpur before 1868

This photograph by Benjamin Simpson captures a boy and a girl behind a lectern with a book in Chota Nagpur, India. It forms part of a series documenting religious conversions in the region. Simpson, a British army surgeon, made this image in a colonial context, amid British expansion and missionary activities in India. His work encapsulates the complex intersection of religion, colonialism, and identity. The subjects, presumably converts to Christianity, are depicted in what seems to be a moment of religious education or practice. Their presence in the photograph speaks to the imposition of Western cultural and religious values on indigenous populations, while simultaneously suggesting their agency in adopting new beliefs. It’s an image that elicits both cultural imposition and personal transformation, reflecting the intricate dynamics of colonialism and the negotiation of identity.