Cremation ghat at Benares (Varanasi)

An artist creates and controls a mood through such elements as the treatment of brushstrokes, the level of detail and clarity given to aspects of the image, and color palette. The medium of photography, especially in its early days, had a limited range of image manipulation techniques as compared those possible today. But early photographers could control the vantage point for their compositions and lighting conditions by time of the day.

This site, known as the Cremation Ghat (Manikarnika ghat) at Varanasi, aroused ambivalent responses of fascination and uneasiness for Western travelers and artists. Devout Hindus brought their dying loved ones to the holy city as a final act of piety or their deceased relatives for cremation, to scatter their ashes from this ghat into the sacred Ganges River.