[Reader-list] History of photography in colonial India

[Rana Dasgupta]

i've just scanned this essay which several conversations in Sarai have 
brought to mind.  "Pioneers of Indian Photography" by John Falconer (2001).

http://www.ranadasgupta.com/notes.asp?note_id=73

it's a fairly standard historical overview of (mainly british) 
photography in india in the 19th century but it will be useful for those 
thinking about the nature of visuality in the british colonial project.

the great sense of uncertainty with regard to the indian landscape, and 
the role that photography played in taming it.  the notion of landscape 
and architecture as the repository of "soul", accessible to the camera's 
objective gaze.  the funding and patronage systems by which a 
photographic record was built up.  etc.

and, incidentally, the great lack of research on photography by indians 
during this same period.

enjoy.

R

-- 
Rana Dasgupta
www.ranadasgupta.com