School met kinderen 1886

This photograph, School met kinderen, was taken by Kassian Céphas. We can see the final result, but I wonder, what of the means of production? As a medium, photography was still relatively new in Céphas’s time. Photographic prints like this one were not just captured, but meticulously made in a darkroom, requiring a high degree of technical skill. Looking at the image, consider how it was made, and how these processes have imbued the artwork with cultural significance. Think about the labor involved in both running the school and taking the photograph. How much work was involved in producing this image? And consider the social context in which this image was made: a colonial setting. Photography at this time was inextricably linked to colonialism because it often served as a tool for documentation, classification, and control. Ultimately, understanding the materiality and the making of this photograph allows us to see it as more than just a picture, but as a complex cultural artifact.