ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the emergence of the modern observing subject in relation to natural history photography according to two themes. The first examines the Victorian enthusiasm for natural history and considers the observer of natural history photographs with regard to the broad audiences — both domestically and across the empire — that were attracted to various types of rational amusement. The second theme considers the role of imagination in the production and reception of photographs and associated visual technologies. There are significant opportunities for further research into the role of photography in colonial natural history museums in other parts of the British Empire, and also as comparative empire studies. Bruno Latour's term 'immutable mobiles' invokes the commonly held assumption that photographs provided ocular proof and thus incontrovertible photographic evidence. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
