Through a critical analysis of a selection of orientalist photographs taken by Colombian photographers Melitón Rodríguez and Benjamín de la Calle during the long 19th century, this article explores the ambivalence of such images according to both the context in which they were created and their specific functions. In this text, the notion of orientalism is problematized by placing the problem outside established narratives, which regard it as a phenomenon proper to the centers of colonial power. Thus, it is critical to question the role of orientalism in places like Latin America, where there was no power relationship with the East, in order to achieve an accurate understanding of part of these photographers’ body of work.