View From Our Garden, Dum Dum 1850s

"View From Our Garden, Dum Dum" is a photograph, probably made in the mid-19th century by Captain R. B. Hill. The sepia tones and soft focus result from the wet collodion process used at the time. This required coating a glass plate with chemicals, exposing it in the camera while still wet, and then developing it immediately. Think of it: each print a race against the clock! The materiality of this process connects to the social context of colonial India. Photography was a tool of documentation and control, reinforcing hierarchies. But here, it is used to capture a personal view. The image shows us the artist’s home; the garden offers respite, and the image exudes tranquility. Consider the labor involved. Not just the photographer's skill, but also the unseen work that maintained this cultivated landscape. The final print blurs these contrasts. Photography flattens everything into a single plane, inviting us to consider the complex layers of meaning embedded in this seemingly simple view.