Sawai Ram Singh II, Maharaja of Jaipur

Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II of Jaipur reigned from 1835 to 1880. A self-taught photographer, he was always up-to-date with the latest camera models and accessories. He would often be found in his small retreat called the ‘photu ka karkhana’ or ‘tasveer khana’ – taking pictures, processing them, fixing his chemicals or making regular journal entries about processes. As a ruler, he was a visionary and was singularly responsible for bringing Jaipur to the brink of modernism. Along with other royal projects he commissioned for the kingdom, Ram Singh also envisioned a new museum (the core collection of which later became the Albert Hall Museum) and the Maharaja School of Arts, which taught a module on photography.

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