Camel Gun

As a hobby photographer and employee of the Great Western Railway, Hugh Owen had already made images of trains and other mechanical objects when the Executive Committee of the Great Exhibition of 1851 commissioned him to produce photographic records of some of the objects on display. Here, a gun and its elaborate saddle cloth are shown in isolation, set against a dark backdrop, with the rifle barrel casting a strong shadow. Camel guns - also known as zamburaks - were essentially light cannons, used in India and other countries where rough terrain made transporting conventional cannons very difficult.