Time freezes in Tasveer's latest exhibition called One Hundred Vintage Views of India, where viewers are taken back to a sepia toned era of snake charmers, bullock carts and palaces
Time freezes in Tasveer's latest exhibition called One Hundred Vintage Views of India, where viewers are taken back to a sepia toned era of snake charmers, bullock carts and palaces
The British left the Indian soil decades ago but stories of their destructive colonial rule have been passed down through generations. While they plundered our natural resources and wealth for almost over two centuries, hats off to the European scholars, who captured the Indian subcontinent through their rudimentary cameras mounted up on tripods.
While some did it as part of their jobs with the East India Company, some did it out of sheer passion for a mysterious new country they were now calling home. While we may not have been witness to these times of turmoil and upheaval, a new photographic print exhibition titled One Hundred Vintage Views Of India will take you a wee bit closer to the past.
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| Summer Palace of Tipu Sultan at Seringapatam by John P Nicholas |
Bernard J Shapero Rare Books, a UK-based company that collects and sells antique books and prints, has joined hands with the Tasveer network of galleries with a collection of 100 rare photographic prints. Clicked in the early 19th century with the Indian sub continent as a subject, a sneak peak into these will help you peer into our past through the lens of western eyes.
While commenting on the reason for collecting such photographs for the last two years, Abhishek Poddar, the founder of Tasveer, says, "Anything to do with history has a nostalgic appeal. The Qutub Minar and the Taj Mahal still exist. But these photographs bring out the change in surroundings over the years."
The idea for the exhibition took birth when Poddar stumbled upon albumen prints of Mughal India in London two years ago. These photos are by amateur and semi-professional European photographers, who have travelled across India in the early part of the 1840s, when photography was just introduced in the West.
These dark toned photographs displaying various Mughal and Hindu archaeological sites were developed by dipping them into a sheet of paper in a bath of egg white and sodium nitrate solution and hence was termed albumen.
"All these photographs have been chosen on the basis of quality, image and content. The aim is to make these rare prints available to contemporary photographers and laymen," says Poddar.
Describing the basis of choosing these 100 photographs from among thousands, Poddar says, "The idea is to show the length and breadth of the Indian subcontinent centuries ago. We have made sure that we cover most parts of the country."
Intricate and profound, the photographs take us to a land of forts, palaces and people making the contrast between the past and present India more intense. Each of these snaps, chronicle the structural changes that India and her people have undergone in a journey through the ravages of time and history.
At Tasveer Gallery, Sua House
On till August 28, 10 am till 6 pm
Call 2212 8358
