Untitled (Rajastahani Gypsies?) c. 1860 - 1880

Editor: This is an untitled photograph, possibly called "Rajastahani Gypsies?", by Willoughby Wallace Hooper. The details in the clothing are amazing. What can you tell me about the social context of this photograph? Curator: Well, consider the time. Photography during the British Raj served specific political agendas. Photos like these were often used for ethnographic documentation, creating a visual record that reinforced colonial power structures. Do you see that reflected in the subjects' poses? Editor: I guess they do seem very formal and posed. So, the photographer might have been trying to categorize and otherize these people? Curator: Precisely. The lack of a specific title is also telling. It suggests a generalized view, reducing individuals to types. It makes you wonder about the power dynamics inherent in image-making at that time, doesn’t it? Editor: It really does. I didn’t think about photography that way. Curator: Understanding the socio-political context transforms how we view these images and the stories they (don't) tell.