1866
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Lepcha Woman (number 1908) is a 1866 by Samuel Bourne, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A woman in a striped skirt and embroidered shawl stands against a plain wall. She looks straight at the camera, hands folded in front of her. This isn’t a painting—it’s an early photograph. Bourne took it in the 1860s, when cameras were heavy and slow. The woman’s calm gaze feels rare for the time, like she’s meeting the future head-on. If you like how Bourne framed everyday people, look up *impasto* next—it’s a painting technique where brushstrokes stand out thick and textured, almost like a photograph in reverse.
One of the most versatile and widely traveled early photographers of India was Samuel Bourne, recognized in his time and now for superb technical skills and artistic talent. While his predominant subject matters were landscape and architectural views, Bourne sometimes photographed the types of people he encountered on his travels throughout India.
The Lepcha people, also called the Rongkup, are indigenous to Sikkim, Darjeeling, and West Bengal in India, and to areas of Nepal and Bhutan.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Samuel Bourne was a British photographer known for his prolific seven years' work in India, from 1863 to 1870.
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