Lakoli
John Thomson
British, 1837–1921
1873
A collotype photograph by John Thomson that records a small group of villagers—children and elders posed before thatched houses—as an attempt to document everyday life in Lakoli for a European audience.
At first glance you meet barefoot figures standing on a dusty lane, some holding long pipes, their worn clothes and the dense thatch of the huts rendered with strong textural contrasts that make the scene feel immediate and tactile.
The print is typical of mid‑19th‑century documentary photography that brought distant communities into European view, expanding visual knowledge while also reflecting the framing and power dynamics of colonial ethnographic practice.
Medium
Collotype
Dimensions
18 9/16 × 13 3/8" (47.2 × 34 cm)
5 1/8 × 4 1/16" (13 × 10.3 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Warner Communications, Inc.
Accession
53.1981.63
Palette
Exhibitions
