Interieur van de Mohammed Ghous-moskee in Ahmedabad before 1866

This is a photograph by Thomas Biggs depicting the interior of the Mohammed Ghous Mosque in Ahmedabad. The image offers us a window into 19th-century colonial India, a time of significant cultural exchange and power dynamics. The mosque, an Islamic institution, is captured through the lens of a British photographer. Biggs' photograph creates meaning through its composition and subject matter, we see an interest in documenting and classifying cultural heritage. The photograph, while seemingly objective, also reflects the photographer's own cultural perspective and the socio-political context of British colonialism in India. Historians contextualize such images by researching the photographer, the institution for which they worked, and the historical events of the time. By considering the social and institutional context, we gain a richer understanding of the photograph's meaning and its place in history.