Mr. Robert Holtz and family (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 a British man in a suit, his wife in a long dress, and their three kids—two boys in sailor outfits, one girl in a frilly dress—all posed stiffly in front of a painted backdrop. This wasn’t just a family portrait. It was part of an album made for British officials in India, showing how they lived alongside wealthy Indians. The photo feels staged, like a performance of colonial life. If you want to see more of these colonial-era scenes, look up India.
