Photography In Colonial And Postcolonial India As An Agent .
Photography in Colonial and Postcolonial Indiaas an Agent of Cultural DominanceAuthor: Megan JoyceFaculty Mentor: Lisa Owen, Department of Art Education and Art History, College of VisualArts and DesignDepartment and College Affiliation: Department of Art Education and Art History, College ofVisual Arts and Design & Honor College
Photography in India2Bio:Megan Joyce received the Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of North Texas with a majorin art history and a minor in archaeology in spring 2009. Joyce recently presented a paper at the 4thAnnual Art History Symposium at the University of Texas at Arlington. She also presented her workat University Scholars Day at UNT in 2009. Megan is a founding member of the Art History Society,and is a member of Tao Sigma, National Transfer Honor Society, and Phi Kappa Phi. She has oftenbeen a member of President’s List. Megan is a classically trained pianist and artist. She plans toattend law school with a focus on intellectual property.
Photography in India3Abstract:This research paper explores the use of photography in colonial India. The thesis of the paper isthat British photographers, through their choice of subjects and editing of their works, created aromanticized image of India as the British wished to see it. More recent photography has focusedon the reality of the lives of the Indian people. Thus photography has moved from fromfunctioning as an agent of colonial domination and political propaganda to a tool used to bringaid and compassion to those in need.
Photography in India4IntroductionPhotography has been propagated as a tool that conveys reality. It represents the signified– the thing that has been photographed. In order for the subject to be represented in aphotograph, it must have physically been in front of the lens. That very quality attributed tophotography led to its use as a tool by colonial Britain to exert control over its establishedcolonies. This paper discusses the use of photography in India as an agent of cultural domination.It will explore the British use of photography to forge an Indian identity that established theRaj’s control over the subcontinent and the use of photography by Indians themselves in anattempt to subvert the pictorial precedent established by the British colonists.The invention of photography was a significant moment in the ability to record peopleand events. It is a medium which seemingly conveys truth, while at the same time, its meaning isconstructed and manipulated. It is with these issues in mind that one can examine the impact ofphotography in India. Photography first came to India in the nineteenth century with theEuropean interest in the subcontinent.1 The scenic panoramas were ideal for creating subliminallandscapes, while the identity of India’s people was manipulated by the cultural bias of theBritish. The Middle East was losing its broad appeal, and the focus on India rekindled theWestern obsession with the mysterious East.2There is no specific date associated with the beginning of photography in India, but thereare records of photographers working in India as early as the 1840s, not long after photography’sinvention.3 Among the many early photographs taken in India, some were of British officials orearly colonists. However, as the popularity of the photographic medium escalated, the interest inphotography as a means of capturing and revealing ―truth‖ turned quickly from photographingBritish subjects to capturing the landscape, architecture, and people of India.
Photography in India5Many of the first images that were available and widely disseminated were images of thelandscape and the architectural monuments of both Mughal and Hindu ruins. This style ofphotography operates within the pictorial themes of the picturesque, which represent images ofvast, sprawling landscapes that highlighted the variations in the subcontinent’s topography. Theconcept of the picturesque was influenced by the emerging literate bourgeoisie, landscapepainting, literature, and nature’s emerging role as commodity. Its aesthetic presupposes thebeauty of nature and places the viewer in the role of voyeur within a protected frame that looksout onto the natural world.4 The frame of the image it there to, ―guarantee that it is only a picture,only picturesque, and the observer is safe in another place—outside the frame,‖ 5 thus allowingthe Victorian gaze to objectify the represented landscape of the colonized Indian ―other‖ throughthis established pictorial tradition. A stylistic subset of the picturesque is the sublime, whichemphasized the awesome, raw, and horrible power of nature. The subject matter and imageryoften focuses on the sublime peaks of the Himalayas or views of abandoned, crumblingarchitecture. The pictorial conventions of the picturesque and the sublime underscore theideology and aesthetic tastes of mid-nineteenth century painting which were readily adapted tophotography. One of the most noted photographers of the picturesque and sublime was SamuelBourne.6Samuel BourneBourne was an English photographer whose primary introduction to the Indian landscapewas during an 1863 trip to the Himalayas.7 As a photographer he wanted to, ―. . . attain suchrarefied spectacles and conceive of them as pictorially compelling photographs.‖ 8 Part of hisdesire was a deep seated regard for the beauty of nature, and part of it was financially driven.According to Gary Sampson, the ideals of the picturesque were ingrained in the Victorian
Photography in India6mindset; so much so, that, as a pictorial type, it was hard to move away from it. It was throughthe vein of landscape painting, and photography’s desire to be taken seriously as an art form, thatthe picturesque came to be used widely in the medium. It was through this explicit andintentional style of image-making that Bourne contributed to the continuing objectification ofIndia and its people, and aided — intentionally or unintentionally — in the British domination ofthe subcontinent.9Victorian society had an intense fascination with the natural world. This fascinationstemmed from the desire to escape the trauma of modern life and experience the peace andtranquility of nature. This fascination and appreciation was shared by Bourne, which heconveyed through his photographs. The photograph, Panoramic View at Chini,10 is a perfectexample of the sublime in Bourne’s photography. The photograph shows the mountain ranges ofChini, a small village in Northern India. In the foreground is a village perched on the precipice ofa jagged mountain range that encompasses the entire background of the photograph. Thejuxtaposition between the village and the imposing mountains creates an air of awe and majesty.Bourne would have encountered this location on his travels through India and used the naturalsetting as a framing element for the image as a way of communicating a pictorial type that wouldappeal to his intended audience: British nationals and tourists. The truthful, or real, quality ofphotography belies factors such as the manipulation of the landscape and the selection of aspecific frame through which the image is shaped. This led to the acceptance of photographs ofIndia as being representative of the place and its people. In reality, Bourne’s images were shapedthrough a British way of seeing; through the pictorial type of landscape painting which wasadapted to the medium of photography. He has objectified and commodified nature, the village,
Photography in India7and India itself. Thus, Bourne’s images are representing and representing the Indian landscapefor British consumption that conveys not India as it is but how the colonial other wants to see it.Despite the contemporary perception of the medium, these photographs convey littletruth. The images, their representation, and meaning, are entirely constructed by Bourne. Take,for example, his photograph The Taj, from corner of Quadrangle11 at Agra. Photographs of theTaj Mahal were popular, and Bourne capitalized on their marketability by taking manyphotographs of the famous structure. Architecture was perfectly suited for early photography dueto the long amount of time needed to attain an accurate exposure. Photographing architecture atfirst appears to be an ideal way to convey the aura of a place and its people, but thesephotographs conveyed a false sense of India and shaped a strictly European view of thesubcontinent. Bourne’s photography, while using an appealing aesthetic type, did little to conveythe realities of Indian life. His images revealed an exoticism that was appealing to Europeantastes, but he abstracted India from its people.12 In addition, the focus of photography during thisperiod on Mughal monuments demonstrated Britain’s role as the ―new emperors‖ of thesubcontinent.Felice BeatoFelice Beato was another photographer who is often associated with India. He was anItalian who made his living as a war photographer. He gained his experience during the CrimeanWar between 1855 and 1856.13 Beato travelled to India to take photographs of the First War ofIndependence, also known as the Sepoy Rebellion. Beato was a commercial photographer, andthe marketability of his images was a serious concern. Moreover, his primary audience wascomprised of British officers and colonists who wanted commemorative images of the triumphof Britain over the insurgent uprising. However, Beato arrived in Calcutta in 1858 five months
Photography in India8after the rebellion and had to stage the photographs he took.14 This is exemplified in hisphotograph Secundra Bagh, Lucknow, India.15 The interior pavilion of the King’s palace atSecunderbagh was the site of the massacre of two thousand of the Indian soldiers who had takencontrol of the city from the British. The fact that Beato was not present in India during therebellion meant that he would have to restage the events which occurred. His arrangement of theIndians and horses in the background draw the viewers’ attention to the decimated architecture;however, it is the arrangement of disinterred bones in the foreground which add the most strikingelement to this photograph.16 This is indicative of the contrived nature of photographic imagesof India. These photographs presented, ―seemingly objective views. . ,‖ and found an eageraudience amongst the British who followed news of the rebellion with great interest. Suchimages acted as an authoritative form of communication showing the horrors of the mutiny andthe triumph of British imperialism despite the deliberate manufacture behind the image.Locations associated with the Sepoy Rebellion were not the only pictures he took duringhis travels. Beato also employed the visual aesthetic of the picturesque just as otherphotographers had. His photograph, The Taj with Fountains,17 is another example of a Europeanconstructing an image of India. The photograph represents another view of the structure, but hereit is framed by a manicured European-style garden. The Taj with Fountains demonstrates therepresentation of Indian culture through a European lens. In this photograph, India and itsrealities are completely obscured by Beato’s composition. Its people are absent, and instead theviewer is left with a beautiful building and an enchanting garden that appeals to a Westerner’sworld-view and has little to do with an appreciation for India and its people.
Photography in India9Raja Deen DayalEuropeans were not the only photographers in nineteenth century India, and manynationals also took up the practice. One of the most notable Indian photographers was Raja DeenDayal. Dayal was initially trained as a draughtsman and took an interest in photography throughthe employment of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), a British institution thatcommissioned several large scale renovations of historical monuments in India. 18 Dayal’sphotograph, The Great Buddhist Stupa,19 is an example of his early work which reflects histraining as a draughtsman through his topographical handling of the landscape. Dayal wascommissioned by the ASI to create before and after shots of the reconstruction efforts on variousbuildings. Photographs such as The Great Buddhist Stupa convey not an Indian aesthetic, but anadaptation of European pictorialism intended for a British audience that continued to construct aview of India as ―other.‖ The juxtaposition between before images of the decaying stupa and theafter photographs of the monument’s reconstruction accentuate the public ideology of an Indiathat was in need of British intervention and preservation.Dayal also worked as the official photographer for the Nizam of the princely state ofHyderabad. Dayal was commissioned for various photographic projects, from portraits of theNizam and the royal family to capturing visiting European diplomats. 20 Dayal was a courtfavorite for his ability to create appealing images that could be read on multiple levels. Due tothe fact that Dayal was trained by the British, but was still ethnically Indian, he operated betweenBritish and Indian visual tropes. Take, for example, his famine relief photographs, which werecommissioned by the Nizam during the famine of 1899.21 The famine relief photographsfunctioned as political propaganda for the Nizam. Instead of utilizing the standard pictorial typefor famine imagery – isolated images of victims, often near death – they represented the efforts
Photography in India10of the Nizam’s government to help solve the problem of starvation that was a direct result of thefamine.22 Dayal’s photographs of the relief efforts were ordered and compositionally arranged insuch a way as to convey the power and control of the Indian government, as seen in thephotograph Famine Orphans in Aurungabad.23 These images were primarily intended for thecolonial presence in India and conveyed the ability of India’s rulers to care for its own people.This is a statement in direct opposition to imagery motivated by British pictorial politics thatdisplayed India as a struggling nation in need of salvation, and instead presented thesubcontinent as a nation capable of political autonomy.ConclusionForging a new photographic and visual identity has been a difficult undertaking for Indiaand its photographers. This is largely due in part to the prejudices that were established throughimages like those of artists such as Bourne and Beato.24 Today, contemporary photographers,Western and Eastern alike, are continuing to struggle with the best way to represent Indiathrough the photographic medium. One particular photographer, Fazal Sheikh, attempts tosubvert established visual tropes and represent India through a more truthful vantage point. Hisphotographic exhibit, Moksha is a series of photographs that depicts the inhabitants ofVrindavan. Many of his subjects are women who have been cast out of their homes and havesurrendered to lives of poverty and hardship. The term Moksha refers to a state of ultimaterelease by Hindus. It is the release from samsara, the continual cycle of rebirth.25 While Sheikhis a New York-born photographer and comes from a Westernized perspective, he attempts togive a face to the impoverished women who live in Vrindavan.Many of the pictures in his exhibition catalog have accompanying text in which thewomen depicted in the photographs describe their experiences. Sheikh thus gives a sense of
Photography in India11agency not only to the women featured in his work, but also to India as a place where sufferingand poverty are often experienced on a daily basis. The image, Seva Dasi, is a portrait in whichthe woman who is depicted recounts the loss of her own husband and rejection of her daughter’shusband who cast her out of his home.26 Seva Dasi directly engages the viewer. Indeed, it isthrough her haunting gaze and the accompanying text that she tells the viewer of her experience.According to her personal narrative, her only desire is to serve the Hindu god, Krishna, and tofind peace from this life through death. She, like the hundreds of other women represented inSheikh’s work, is at the mercy of the male-dominated society she lives in. The unification ofimage and text is central to Sheikh’s representation of these women. Through it, he allows themto recount their individual suffering as he captures them through the lens of the camera – givingthe women of Vrindavan agency to tell their stories of suffering and hardship. Sheikh’s work isnot totally devoid of his own bias, and the intent behind his photography is to further the cause ofhuman rights. He illustrates the ways in which photography, as practiced in India, has evolvedover the centuries.Photography has been put to many uses in India. India’s identity has been shaped by thediscourse of photography through its use as a means of political control: from functioning as anagent of colonial domination and political propaganda to a tool used to bring aid and compassionto those in need. Photography is an intriguing medium because it presents a multiplicity ofmeaning; it is at the same time reality and fantasy, truth and lies.
Photography in India12BibliographyBeato,Felice. The Taj with the Fountains, 1859, albumen print, The Olivier DegeorgesCollection. In Picturesque Views: Mughal in 19th Century Photography, edited byGadebusch, Raffael Dedo. New York, New York: Distributed Arts Publishers, 2008.Beato, Felice. Secundra Bagh, Lucknow, India, wetplate, 1858, University of California, SanDiego. In India through the Lens: Photography 1840-191, edited by Vidya Dehejia, 132.Washington D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, SmithsonianInstitution in Association with Mapin Publishing, Ahmedenabad, 2000.Dehejia, Vidya. ―Fixing Shadow.‖ Chap. 1 in India through the Lens: Photography 1840-1911,edited by Vidya Dehejia, 14-5. Washington D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M.Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution in Association with Mapin Publishing,Ahmedenabad, 2000.Gadebusch, Raffael Dedo, ed. Picturesque Views: Mughal in 19th Century Photography. NewYork, New York: Distributed Arts Publishers, 2008.Harris, David. ―Topography and Memory: Felice Beato’s Photographs of India, 1858-1859.Chap. 4 in India through the Lens: Photography 1840-1911 edited by Vidya Dehejia,119-31.Washington D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery,Smithsonian Institution in Association with Mapin Publishing, Ahmedenabad, 2000.Hutton, Deborah. ―Raja Deen Dayal and Sons: Photographing Hyderabad’s Famine ReliefEfforts.‖ History of Photography 31, no. 3 (2007): 260-75. ―Shooting Power: Photographing the Royal Hunt in 19th Century India.‖Lecture given at the University of North Texas, College of Visual Arts and Design,Denton, TX. November 11, 2008.Mitchell, W.J.T. ed. ―Imperial Landscape‖ Chap. 1 in Landscape and Power edited by W. J. T.Mitchell, 5-34. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.Said, Edward, introduction to Orientalism, 1-28.New York: Pantheon Books, 1978.Sampson, Gary D. ―Photographer of the Picturesque: Samuel Bourne‖ Chap. 7 in India throughthe Lens: Photography 1840-1911 edited by Vidya Dehejia, 163-75. Washington, D.C.:Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution inAssociation with Mapin Publishing, Ahmedenabad, 2000.Sheikh, Fazal. Moksha. Göttingen: Steidl, 2005.
Photography in India13Notes1. Vidya Dehejia, ―Fixing Shadow,‖ in India Through the Lens: Photography 1840-1911, ed.Vidya Dehejia 14-5 (Washington, D.C.: Freer Gallery, 2000).2. Raffael Dedo Gadebusch, Picturesque Views: Mughal India in Nineteenth-CenturyPhotography (New York: Distributed Arts, 2008), 6.3. Dehejia, India through the Lens, 14-5; Gadebusch, Picturesque Views, 19.4. W.J.T. Mitchell. ―Imperial Landscape,‖ in Landscape and Power, ed. W. J. T. Mitchell.(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002), 16.5. Ibid., 16.6. Gary D. Sampson. ―Photographer of the Picturesque: Samuel Bourne,‖ in India through theLens: Photography 1840-1911, ed. Vidya Dehejia. (Washington, D.C.: Freer Gallery, 2000), 163-75.7. Ibid., 163.8. Ibid., 163.9. Edward Said, Introduction to Orientalism (New York: Pantheon Books, 1978), 1-28: 310. Samuel Bourne Panoramic View at Chini, black and white photography, 19th century,University of California San Diego. See http://www.artstor.org11. Samuel Bourne, The Taj, from corner of Quadrangle, silver albumen print, 1866, Asian ArtMuseum, Berlin. As seen in Gadebusch, Picturesque Views, 41.12. Sampson, ―Photographer of the Picturesque,‖ 167.13. David Harris. ―Topography and Memory: Felice Beato’s Photographs of India, 1858—1859,‖in India Through the Lens: Photography 1840-1911I, ed. Vidya Dehejia. (Washington, D.C.: FreerGallery, 2000), 119-31.14. Deborah Hutton. ―Shooting Power: Photographing the Royal Hunt in 19th Century India.‖Public lecture given at the University of North Texas, College of Visual Arts and Design, Denton, TX.November 11, 2008.15. Felice Beato, Secundra Bagh, Lucknow, India, wetplate, 1858, University of California, SanDiego. As seen in Vidya Dehejia, India Through the Lens, 146.16. Harris.17. Beato, The Taj with the Fountains, 1859, albumen print, The Olivier Degeorges Collection.As seen in Gadebusch, Picturesque Views, 42.18. Deborah Hutton, ―Shooting Power.‖19. Raja Deen Dayal, Great Buddhist Stupa, part of a public lecture, Deborah Hutton, ―ShootingPower.‖ Also available for viewing in India Through the Lens, ed. Vidya Dehejia, 280.20. Hutton, ―Shooting Power.‖21. Deborah Hutton. ―Raja Deen Dayal and Sons: Photographing Hyderabad’s FamineRelief Efforts.‖ History of Photography 31, no. 3 (2007): 260-275.22. Hutton, ―Raja Deen Dayal and Sons,‖ 264.23. Deen Dayal, Famine Orphans in Aurungabad, black and white photograph, 19th century,Victoria and Albert Museum, London. As seen in Hutton, ―Raja Deen Dayal and Sons.‖24. Said, Introduction to Orientalism, 5.25. Fazal Sheikh. Moksha (Göttingen, Steidl, 2005), 5.26. Fazal Sheikh, Seva Dasi, black and white photograph, 2005. As seen in Sheikh, Moksha, pg.203.
photography led to its use as a tool by colonial Britain to exert control over its established colonies. This paper discusses the use of photography in India as an agent of cultural domination. It will explore the British use of photography to forge an Author: Megan JoycePublish Year: 2009
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Self in the Conflict between Tradition and Modernity in . The Age of Orphans. Page 32 Conclusion Page 4 6 Works Cited Page 4 7. 1 . INTRODUCTION. Postcolonial theory proposes diverse definitions for the postcolonial self, as selfhood is seen as a product of cultural discourse. Some postcolonial theorists consider the human self to be the product of a static discourse, but the others think of .
is" but in postcolonial context, identity is a complex concept that would be difficult to define. The identification of an individual or a group or a nation in postcolonial terms as one notice easily is linked to the "other", that means they recognize themselves "us" with the existence of the "other". Otherness is a feature to recognize
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