Colonial Views of India: Photographs by Eugene Clutterbuck Impey

Colonial Views of India: Photographs by Eugene Clutterbuck Impey is on at the Ashmolean Museum until 13 December, having opened back in April. It's the museum's first exhibition to focus on photographs and negatives, and it's part of their Love & Legacy season.

The show brings together previously unseen photographs and 247 glass negatives by Colonel Eugene Clutterbuck Impey (1830–1904). He was an East India Company officer who arrived in India in 1851, took part in the Indian Uprising of 1857, and later worked as a political agent before returning to Britain in 1878. Photography had only debuted in 1839, and British officials soon took it up to document different social groups across India. Impey's images range from portraits of colonial officers and Indians to staged scenes of daily life, clothing, religious sites, animals and landscapes.

There's a specific angle to look out for here: the photographs reflect the imperial interests of the time and often reinforced the stereotypes used to justify colonial rule. Seeing them in that light changes how you read the images. Some of the material has also been published as a book-length volume, so if you find yourself wanting to dig deeper into the history, there's a way to do it beyond the gallery walls. The exhibition is in Gallery 29 on Level 1, and the curator, Professor Mallica Kumbera Landrus, leads gallery tours during the run.

Admission is free, and the museum is open daily from 10.00am to 5.00pm. You'll find it at the Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PH.