No. 92. Amerapoora. Another part of the Balcony of Kyoung No. 86 [Maha-too-lo-Bounghian Kyoung]. 1855

Linnaeus Tripe created this albumen silver print of Amerapoora as part of his photographic survey of Burma in 1855. Tripe was a Captain in the British East India Company, a colonizing force that exerted immense political, economic, and cultural influence in the region. This photograph presents the Maha-too-lo-Bounghian Kyoung, a Buddhist monastery. The architecture is captured with a clear, almost clinical precision, emphasizing its exotic otherness. What does it mean for Tripe, a representative of colonial power, to frame this sacred space? How does his gaze reflect the power dynamics inherent in colonial encounters? The image is not merely a recording, but an interpretation, laden with the weight of cultural and political context. Through Tripe's lens, we are invited to consider the complex interplay between the observer and the observed, and to reflect on the power of representation.