Middle Class Students and Staff, Bishop Cotton School, Shimla (verso)
1884
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1884
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see a black-and-white photo of boys in school uniforms standing with their teachers on a hillside. This is one of the earliest photographs of an Indian school under British rule. The boys look stiff, but their faces show pride. The photo was meant as a souvenir for a British official, so it tells two stories at once: education for Indians and colonial power. Look up more photos of India from this time to see how the British saw the country.
