Bombay Photographs

Art365 India

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Photography came to India soon after it was invented in the early part of the 19th century and by 1840, the first daguerreotype camera was on sale in Calcutta, barely a year after it was invented. Louis Daguerre’s method involved using silver copper plates sanitised with iodine and bromine, though the disadvantages of this process was that the photograph could not be duplicated. Indians, and of course the British sahibs and memsahibs, took to the joys of having their image reproduced quickly. By mid 19th century, there were an estimated 500 if not more photographers practicing in Calcutta, the capital of the Raj. Photography was used to document buildings and structures and by 1854, there were enough enthusiastic amateurs and professionals to set up the first Indian Photographic Society in Bombay. From the cities the photography rage moved to hill stations and ‘cantonment’ towns where British garrisons were posted. The latter part of the 19th century saw the emergence of the early pioneering studios of Uday Ramjee of Jaipur, Ahmed Ali Khan in Lucknow and most well known of them all, Deen Dayal of Hyderabad. British photographers came to India, in the footsteps of Daniells to record the tribes and peoples of India. 

Photography was no longer the preserve of the elite or the institutions, but also the common people. Family events were recorded for posterity by professional photographers and soon enough, it also became a mark of vanity to get oneself photographed. Though the early formal portraits were those of royalty, which had in an earlier era patronised painters, the common people took to it. 

Early studio photographs show a stiff, formal and somewhat regal air of most subjects, almost totally devoid of smiles, as though frivolity would somehow distort the significance of the event. In order to further embellish the occasion, studios set up props such as elegantly carved tables, carpets, pillars, costumes, vases and the appropriate backdrop to highlight and even enhance the subject’s station in life. Thus, often merchants became princes and their wives turned into queens for the duration of the photo session. Those who wanted to appear learned had leather bound books placed discreetly on the table. A loved child was fondly enveloped in a halo. The ‘artist’ photographers also added another dimension by painting, usually with oil, their subjects and adding the appropriate backdrop. Thus, the elegant lady, no doubt the wife of a big businessman, wears heavy jewellery on her arms, suitably coloured gold and is framed against a column, which is probably from her grand mansion. Often the photographer traced the outline of the photograph onto ivory which they then coloured in order to make miniature portraits. 

These sepia tinted photographs, collected by us over the past three decades, give a glimpse of an era long gone. They demonstrate not only the quality and skills of the printing but also are documents of Indian social history. Though photography has come a long way since those early days, turning digital and obviating even the need for film, these photographs retain a timeless charm which makes them works of art.