[The Countess Canning, Calcutta] 1861

Josiah Rowe made this photograph of The Countess Canning in Calcutta. It's an albumen silver print from a glass negative. Let’s consider what this image communicates about the Countess’s status in British India. She is posed in a domestic setting, surrounded by objects that signify wealth, education, and a certain level of cultural refinement. The clock, the vase, and even the fan all speak to her position. But, this is a photograph, not a painting. So, the Countess is actively participating in the popularization of photography as a technology for social documentation. It’s no accident that this image was made in India, at a time of expanding British power. We might ask how gender and class functioned within that context. Was the Countess a progressive figure, or did she reinforce existing hierarchies? To understand that, we need to research the social history of photography, and the role of aristocratic women in the British Empire. The image gives us an opportunity to explore the complex relationship between art, power, and representation.