Information and discussion on all aspects of British photographic history
Time: April 1, 2011 to September 4, 2011
Location: Pacific Asia Museum
Street: 46 North Los Robles Avenue
City/Town: Pasadena, California 91101
Website or Map: http://www.pacificasiamuseum.…
Phone: (626) 449-2742
Event Type: exhibition
Organized By: Pacific Asia Museum
Latest Activity: Apr 1, 2011
Export to Outlook or iCal (.ics)
This exhibition will feature more than 70 images in 2 rotations selected for both their striking imagery and for what they reveal about the dynamism of India in this era. Through the Colonial Lens looks at the history of photography in India from its early adoption dating from the 1840s through the early 1900s. The exhibition will also explore themes of the subjective view, consumption of images and photography’s growing prominence over earlier forms of media.
Photography began developing in South Asia almost immediately after it was introduced in Europe, thereby producing a rich body of images created both by Europeans living in India as well as by Indians themselves. Amateur and professional photographers used the new medium to document their daily life as well as conduct land surveys, anthropological and archeological studies and produce images for the tourist trade and export.
Through the Colonial Lens also looks at the transition from miniature painting to photography as a way to document life in South Asia. Colonial military detachments and companies conducting business during the Raj increasingly turned to the new medium of photography to document their experiences in India as well as to complete projects, such as land surveying, anthropological and archeological studies, and producing images for the tourist trade and export. By the later 19th century, photography had almost completely supplanted miniature painting in India, due to its immediacy and quick and relatively easy methods of production. Indian photographers also used the new medium and made innovations with the technology, both of which are presented in the exhibition.
Drawing from local private collections, Through the Colonial Lens will feature the work of both amateur and professional photographers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Samuel Bourne, Lala Deen Dayal, Edward Lyon and John Murray. Curated by Bridget Bray.
Photo:Victoria and Albert Museum's photography collection
National Science and Media Museum
RPS Journal 1853-2012 online and searchable
Photographic History Research Centre, Leicester
Birkbeck History and Theory of Photography Research Centre
William Henry Fox Talbot Catalogue Raisonné
British Photography. The Hyman Collection
The Press Photo History Project Mapping the photo agencies and photographers of Fleet Street and the UK
The correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot
Historic England Archive
UAL Photography and Photography and the Archive Research Centre
Royal Photographic Society's Historical Group
www.londonstereo.com London Stereoscopic Company / T. R. Williams
www.earlyphotography.co.uk British camera makers and companies
Fox Talbot Museum, Lacock.
National Portrait Gallery, London
http://www.freewebs.com/jb3d/
Alfred Seaman and the Photographic Convention
Frederick Scott Archer
© 2022 Created by Michael Pritchard.
Powered by
RSVP for Through the Colonial Lens: Photographs of 19th and 20th Century India to add comments!
Join British photographic history