Captain Brown's horses, Jhansi (recto, top)
1884
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1884
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see two horses standing side by side in bright sunlight, their reins held by an unseen handler. This isn’t a painting—it’s an early photograph, one of the first to document British colonial life in India. The horses belonged to a British officer, Captain Brown, and the image was likely made as a keepsake for someone far from home. The shadows are sharp, almost like cutouts, because the photo was taken in strong midday light. To see more of India through this photographer’s lens, look up Raja Deen Dayal (Indian, 1844–1905).
