Gonasika, Odisha. British India.
Photographer: Tosco Peppe.
Assigned with the task of photographing the primitive tribes that inhabited the remote regions of the East India Company’s Bengal Presidency in the 18th century. Photographer Tosco Peppe had journeyed to Gonasika in Kendujhar, Odisha with his old daguerreotype box camera to capture this image of two young Juang girls. Clad in nothing more than what at the time had been their natural attire of leaves and beads.
His photo, one among a series, meant to illustrate the pages of the Ethnology of Bengal. An official work of Ethnology. That had purposefully documented the lives of aboriginal people who for centuries had remained cocooned in their ancient ways, untouched by the world around them. See Farbound.Net story: Those half-naked tribal women and the men who loved them so dearly.
Rare but controversial.
However, nearly two centuries later, in spite of its praise for uniqueness and originality. Especially by the noted early nineteenth-century ethnographer, Sir Herbert Risely. Peppe’s photo has gained notoriety as a symbol of colonial fantasy. And come to be debated and criticized in academic circles. Spurred more by the reason, the girls in the first place had been uncomfortable and reluctant to pose. Evident in their sullen expressions and body language.
A fact that was observed and highlighted by the author and compiler of the book, Edward Dalton(see Farbound.Net story: Major General Edward Tuite Dalton). Who with the honesty and integrity of a chronicler, wrote in the accompanying description.
“Mr. Peppe had immense difficulty in inducing these wild and timid creatures to pose for him. And it was not without many a tear, they had resigned themselves to the ordeal. It is right to mention, they had been brought in from the forest where they had been searching for their daily bread. Which chiefly consists of forest produce, and their leaves had not been as neatly arranged as they would have been if the girls had had time to make a fresh toilette.”
-Edward Tuite Dalton, Ethnology of Bengal.
The image is actually a lithograph. And was created out of the original photo. The entire collection of photos produced for the book was lost in a fire accident.
Edward’s original copy of the manuscript can be found archived at Swansea University.
