Research

Photography in India, c. 1847 to the present

A study of the historical and aesthetic development of photography in India.

This project traces the development of photography in India from its beginnings to the present day. It presents this history by focusing on themes and issues relevant during the course of photography’s practice on the subcontinent. Further it seeks to trace the aesthetic changes in photographs themselves, identifying key photographers, studios and their styles. It considers the photographic works of early European photographers practicing in India and the works of Indian photographers who came to dominate all genres in the late 19th through the 20th centuries.

Specific areas include:

• the early development of photography in India from its use and dissemination by the British colonial government through early amateur photographers and official government photographers hired to document the land, architecture, and people;
• the rise of commercial studios and the exponential increase in taking pictures with certain advancements in technology and the emergence of amateur photographic societies and clubs;
• the influence of photography on painting and the practice of painted photographs;
• how photography was used in the service of nation-building to capture and heroize historical moments as well as construct and disseminate images of a unified and authentic India;
• photographic production in the era directly after independence when India’s first prime minister, J. N. Nehru, embarked the nation on several successive five-year plans for economic reform;
• the predominance of colour photography in India coinciding with the tenure of Indira Gandhi;
• and how photography becomes a part of the growing international art gallery and exhibition scene.

Curator
Deepali Dewan

 

 

Underwood & Underwood, Stereoscope of Temple at Madurai, c. 1890, 2004.53.1.82. This acquisition was made possible by the generous support of the South Asian Research and Acquisition Fund.

Painted Photograph of Prince and Consort, Rajasthan, c. 1920, 2005.37.1. This acquisition was made possible with the generous support of the ROM Reproductions Fund.

Film Still from Ujala, 1959, 2004.60.23. This acquisition was made possible by the generous support of the South Asian Research and Acquisition Fund.