[title not known] c. 1933 - 1938

Editor: This portrait by Lionel Wendt presents a person gazing directly at the viewer with a melancholic expression. What sociopolitical tensions do you think Wendt was trying to capture? Curator: This work invites us to consider how Wendt, a Sri Lankan photographer, navigated issues of representation and identity in a colonial context. How might this image challenge or reinforce existing power dynamics? Editor: I never thought about it that way before! Curator: Thinking about Wendt's personal identity, and the historical period, it's clear that race, gender, and class intersect in complex ways within his work. Editor: It’s fascinating to consider these multiple layers within a single image.