HistoriCity | Colonial lens to Republic’s viewfinder: Evolution of photography in India
Photography in India has evolved from a colonial tool of classification and control to a medium reflecting the nation's complex history and identity. Early colonial photographs often reinforced paternalistic and racist narratives, portraying Indian subjects through a lens of European superiority. Over time, figures like Raghu Rai transformed photography into a form of national memory, capturing both the grandeur and the silenced stories of modern India.
- ▪Colonial-era photography in India was used as an instrument of governance and knowledge production under British rule.
- ▪Photographers like Willoughby Wallace Hooper produced dehumanising images during events such as the Madras famine, staging subjects to serve imperial narratives.
- ▪Raghu Rai is regarded as a chronicler of modern India, with his work forming a visual archive of the Republic’s history and identity.
- ▪James Waterhouse contributed to scientific photography, while John Marshall advanced archaeological documentation in India.
- ▪Photography arrived in India shortly after its invention in Europe, quickly becoming embedded in colonial administrative and ethnographic projects.
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HistoriCity | Colonial lens to Republic’s viewfinder: Evolution of photography in IndiaSome colonial-era photographs did little, for instance, to conceal the paternalistic attitudes underpinning their productionPublished on: Apr 28, 2026 1:13 PM ISTBy Valay SinghShare viaCopy link Photographs only show a version of truth and objectivity, what gets in the frame is often as important as what is not. With the death of Raghu Rai, India lost not just a photographer, but a way of remembering itself. More than merely documentation; his photographs serve as an evolving archive of the Republic; its power and pageantry, and ruptures and silences. Ordinary, unrecorded life.
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