Unidentified Woman, Bombay

This is a studio photograph of an unidentified woman by an unidentified photographer.

Early Indian photography was defined by the gaze of the coloniser. So, these images are accompanied by information meant to serve the British administration in tidily cataloguing by community, profession or faith the diverse populations of the Subcontinent. Towards the end of the 19th-century, photo studios had increased in the major towns so that wealthy citizen could represent themselves in the manner of British officials and Indian royalty.