Overview:
Wolfsonian-FIU Digital Collections provided an extensive collection of photos and albums compiled by donors. In this exhibition, I chose to use “Le Tour Du Monde 1899-1901” as I felt that it provided a fantastic look into Colonial India through a “tourist’s perspective.” Frederic A. and Jean S. Sharf were joint donors of this album, but according to the Wolfsonian, “Mr. Hobson” took these photos during his travels. I chose to focus on the Indian portion of his adventure. As I looked through his pictures, I noticed that one could see elements of Cohen’s ideas and arguments within the album.
In Cohen’s introduction, he discusses the various modalities that the British used in their colonization. This collection helps support his position in that we see the photos as an extension of Western thought, behavior, and what tourists would find fascinating to document. Cohen would describe this album as evidence of “the observational/ travel modality” and “surveillance modality” (Cohen, Colonialism, p. 6, 10). Furthermore, the Sharf collection also provided captions with each of their photos which not only explains the pictures; it also contains language which can help illustrate what these tourists thought of the locals that they were visiting. For example, I noticed that the collection refers to the Indian locals as “natives” or ”native types” which may seem innocuous but does show the social order between the westerners and the Indian population (Sharf, Le Tour, p. 58, 72).
Cohen argued, “in coming to India, they unknowingly and wittingly invaded and conquered not only a territory but an epistemological space as well” (Cohen, Colonialism, p. 4). The Sharf album was finished in 1901 and showed Britain’s results after centuries of experimentation and rule. Cohen’s work helps handrail the reader from the early stages of colonial control to the beginning of the twentieth century. The Sharf album supports Cohen’s work in that it provides visual evidence to the various lifestyles and changes that occurred under British rule. The modalities and experimental systems used were supposed to reinforce the “ideological infrastructure of British rule in India” (Cohen, Colonialism, p. 65). In reality, we see two different worlds within India. The first world shows a sense of bliss from the foreigners where they are enjoying their time “in country” as an exciting adventure. The other world is one of the locals where you see signs of poverty and lower quality of life.
Cohen’s work addresses the tremendous impact Britain had in India, both positive and negative. He showcases the various methods the colonizers took to establish full control and manipulate the local population. The Sharf collection is one of many photo albums created by tourists in the 19th/20th century as they traveled to British India. In some ways, this album contributes to British methods of ideological control because it helped reinforce outsider perceptions of India.
Images and analysis of the Images
One of the photos within Sharf’s album was labeled “tea gatherers.” Besides the clarity of these locals job, their attire caught my eye. Cohen addressed the culture shock British women experienced and record when they saw the “seminakedness of lower-status Indian household servants, who seemed constantly underfoot” (Cohen, Colonialism, p. 130). In this photo, we see women gathers with a similar demeanor and attire that Cohen described. Furthermore, this picture pushes the sense of “orientalism” where this form of “travel modality” helped reinforce westerners’ presumptions of their local Indian counterparts.
This interesting photo seems to compare a western woman’s dress, to a local. The woman is wearing a sun hat and is holding a sun umbrella. Within the same picture, the local water carrier is wearing worn down clothes and is barefoot. This photo reinforces Cohen’s assertion that “British women in India similarly restricted their public appearances… concerned to be well covered both in terms of protecting their skin from the Indian sun and for modesty’s sake” (Cohen, Colonialism, p. 137). Furthermore, this picture supports the idea that there were “two Indias” one of British seclusion and the local environment.
Cohen argued that “the British appear… to have felt most comfortable surveying India from above and at a distance—from a horse, an elephant, a carriage” (Cohen, Colonialism, p.10). This photo shows the various methods of travel that the tourists took. In almost every instance we see carriages, elephants, and camels as the primary modes of transportation. Like the British, the tourists in these photos observed India “at a distance.”
These photos help illustrate the many “travel accounts including set pieces… (and) encounters with traveling entertainers” (Cohen, Colonialism, p.7). As part of his research, Cohen argued the prominence and lasting impact of the “observational/travel modality.” These photos show western tourists posing and playing with monkeys that seem to accompany this man. These interactions were deemed picture worthy and were included in the album. It helps showcase the fascination that the tourists had with these local norms.
The last photo serves as an unfortunate reminder of the realities of colonialism. The picture labels the individual photographed as a famine victim. What I found striking is that we have a carriage and more westerners in the background. I can’t help but see the feeling of helplessness from the local as the westerners look on. This photo serves as a stark reminder to the two separate worlds that the colonizers and the locals inhabited in India.
Further thoughts
The collection of photos provided in this exhibition was taken between 1899-1901. At this point, the British Empire solidified its control over India. Like Cohen, I discussed throughout this exhibit the seemingly two different worlds within India. You have two separate entities where one rules the other. There’s a feeling of obliviousness, especially in the photo with the famine victim. This reality brings me to my first question to what did the locals think of these foreign tourists? The westerners in the background and the people taking the picture seem to act solely as observers, regardless on the possible positive effect they can have. Sharf’s album expands on Cohen’s analysis in that it provides a visual context which supports his thesis.
Moving forward, I believe this album does show some of the early signs of wear, and eventual breakdown where Britain withdraws from India. The photos that captured both foreigners and locals highlight a separate culture where the locals suffer at the foreigners’ expense. The tea carriers likely worked for one of the major tea monopolies that were supported by the British Empire. These workers’ attire help illustrate their welfare. The second take away question asks a hypothetical. Could have the British held on to India if they took a more serious effort in caring for the wellbeing of Indian population?
References:
Cohn, Bernard S. Colonialism and its forms of knowledge the British in India. Princeton, NJ: Princeton U Press, 2006. Print.
Sharf, Jean S. ( joint donor ), Frederic A., and Jean S. Sharf ( Joint Donor ). “Le tour du monde I.” SobekCM Digital Library. S.n., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 04 Mar. 2017.
http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037637/00001/58j?search=tour+%3ddu+%3dmonde
http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037637/00001/74j?search=tour+%3ddu+%3dmonde
http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037637/00001/78j?search=tour+%3ddu+%3dmonde
http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037637/00001/81j?search=tour+%3ddu+%3dmonde
http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037637/00001/79j?search=tour+%3ddu+%3dmonde