Visual Source: “British Officer Reclining”

Although the living situation of Kayerts and Carlier depicted by Conrad would probably not have been quite as comfortable as that depicted in this photograph, we can nonetheless imagine from their story something of the life of the British officer portrayed here. This photograph of a British officer reclining while being fanned and otherwise served by two Indian attendants offers us a glimpse of the colonial lifestyle. It also gives us a sense of race, class, and labor divisions in colonial India.