Dorp aan een water in Siam c. 1870 - 1900

This photograph titled 'Dorp aan een water in Siam' capturing a village on the waters in Siam was created by G.R. Lambert & Co. During the colonial era, photography was frequently employed as a tool to document and represent foreign lands and cultures. This image is an example of how Southeast Asia was seen through the eyes of western photographers. G.R. Lambert & Co., likely a commercial enterprise, produced images for a Western audience, shaping perceptions of Siam and its people. The photograph romanticizes the notion of a traditional village life, while simultaneously emphasizing the distance between the viewer and the inhabitants. This distance is not merely geographical but also cultural, reinforcing the exoticism and otherness. In doing so, it raises questions about whose stories are told, and who has the power to tell them.