Title: Three Girls and a Woman Checking Hair

Photographer: Winfield Scott

Date: 1895-1910

The people in this photo are three girls and one woman. There are not many objects in this photo. The girls seem to be in front of a hut and there is a bowl that seems to be full with water on the floor. All the girls are either working on another girls hair or they are getting their hair worked on. Based on the observations one can deduce that the woman on the right is the mother of the other three girls. You can deduct from the girls facial expressions that they don’t seem very happy. My final deduction for this photo is that the females live in a poor area. The background is very poor and it does not look like the greatest area.

 

My two questions are:

Do they live in the hut behind them?

Is the father still alive, if so where is he?

Title: Bombay Police

Photographer: William Johnson

Date: 1855-1862

The people in this seem to be four Indian police officers. The officer in the middle left seems to be of higher rank than the other officers. All the officers are dressed well. The officer in the middle left seems to be dressed in nicer clothing than the other officers.  All the officers are holding a police baton.  From Left to Right one man is sitting on the ground looking at the camera, the next is sitting on a chair looking at the camera, the next is sitting on a ledge staring down, and the next is standing looking away from the camera. They all seem to be posing for the photo. Based on the observation you can deduce that the officer in the middle left is the captain over the other three men. Another deduction would be that the men are clearly posing for the photo rather than the photographer catching the men in their natural habitat. My final deduction is that the captain asked to get his photo taken with his most trusted officers.

My two questions are:

Does the strength of mustache show the order of hierarchy in this photograph?

Do the numbers on the officer’s belt have any significance?