Untitled (a Toda Chief) c. 1860 - 1880

Curator: Here we have Willoughby Wallace Hooper's "Untitled (a Toda Chief)," a photograph currently housed at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: The man's gaze is arresting. He’s rooted there, a silent sentinel. It’s like a story etched in sepia tones. Curator: Hooper, active in India, documented various ethnic groups. This image gives us a glimpse into the visual culture surrounding British colonial administration. Editor: I’m drawn to the textile draped over his shoulder. It speaks volumes about craft, labor, and the individuality that resists being homogenized. Curator: The print itself, its materiality, speaks of specific photographic processes and the way images were circulated and consumed in the 19th century. Editor: Yes, but it’s also the soul staring back at you, isn’t it? It transcends the mere process. It’s strangely intimate. Curator: An intimacy shaped by colonial power dynamics, which, of course, influenced the very act of image-making. Editor: Maybe. But sometimes, I think, the heart finds a way to peek through the cracks in history. Curator: A crucial point to consider. Editor: Indeed.