A collection of portraits taken in India, one of the largest in the world, is currently on display at the Museum für Fotografie in Berlin. This set of 300 photographs dating from the second half of the 19th century offers a broad view of Indian society and culture, albeit with an assuredly European and colonial perspective.
This exhibition develops several themes through its various sets of photographs. The first room is dedicated to the country’s nobility: families of maharajahs, princes, and chieftains, taken in their palaces or staged in studios. We discover through these pictures, highly “posed” and requiring extensive preparation, luxurious details in the subjects’ attire (which vary with each cultural group), covered in ornaments symbolizing their wealth.
Eva Gravayat
Read the full text of this article in the French version of Le Journal.
The Colonial Eye. Early Portrait Photography in India
From July 20th to October 21st, 2012
Museum für Fotografie
Jebensstrasse 2
10623 Berlin – Germany
Catalogue :
Koehler & Amelang, Seemann Henschel GmbH & Co. KG
Das Koloniale Auge. Frühe Porträtfotografie in Indien / The Colonial Eye. Early Portrait Photography in India.
Ludger Derenthal / Raffael Dedo Gadebusch / Katrin Specht (Hg.)
208 Seiten, 200 farbige Abbildungen, Hardcover, 25 x 31 cm. Price: € 39,90.
ISBN 978-3-7338-0387-2 (dt.); ISBN 978-3-7338-0389-6 (engl.)
