Eggs, salt & the delicious decades of albumen print photos
How albumen, a sticky substance found in egg whites, took the elite European hobby of photography and turned into a global phenomenon
Portraits
Memories of the Water Bearer
To a weary traveller or parched soldier in 19th-century India, there was perhaps no sight as welcome as the approach of a bhishti. A quick untwisting of the mouth of the mashaq slung over his shoulder, and cool clear water would splash into a grateful cupped palm.
Thakore Sahib of Morvi with Mahendrasingh, Prince of Morvi
This is a studio portrait of Thakur Sahib Maharaja Lakhdirji Waghji and the young Mahendrasingh of Morvi. They represent two generations of the Jadeja Rajputs who ruled the state of Morvi on the Kathiawar peninsula. In 1807, the East India Company declared the state of Morvi a British protectorate, a system by which local rulers… Read more »
Jagatjit Singh, Maharaja of Kapurthala
This is a portrait of Jagatjit Singh, Maharaja of Kapurthala from the album Delhi Coronation Durbar, 1st January 1903 by Wiele and Klein. Jagatjit Singh (1872-1949) carried his royal Sikh heritage with pride. He was the descendant of Sardar Jassa Singh, founder of the Ahluwalia dynasty, who led the various misls or ancestral warrior clans… Read more »
Ranbir Singh, Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir
This is a Carte de Visite portrait of the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Ranbir Singh (1830-1885). After the decline of the Mughals, power over Jammu was seized briefly by the Afghan Durrani dynasty who were defeated in the early 19th-century by the armies of the Lion of Punjab aka Ranjit Singh, the first Maharaja… Read more »
Postcards from Madras
Postcards began at the end of the 19th century as a new kind of crossover between photography and the popular print market. In a collaboration with Picture Postcard Empire, we bring you a virtual exhibition of intriguing postcards from the city of Madras
reimagine II
Inside the studios and minds of seven contemporary artists who have interpreted and re-imagined objects from our collection to tell us stories in their unique styles
Whose land is it anyway?
We examine the themes presented in Saju Kunhan’s work as they are represented in our collection of rare 19th-century portraits, war photography, engravings, contemporary art and Warli painting
Book of Kings: Early Mughal portraits in Muraqqa’s
Opulently gilded and calligraphed, filled with a patchwork of intricately detailed imagery, evoking wonder and awe, the muraqqa’ tells unforgettable tales of royalty
Metal Head: Royal Portraiture on the Ancient and Medieval Coins of India
The rulers of a bygone India put their likenesses on coins to announce in unambiguous terms their absolute dominance over the land. What else do these tiny metal portraits tell us about the subject in question? Let’s peel back the layers
Family Portraiture: An attempt at reading a personal album
We dive into a study of family portraiture with a set of three albums belonging to John Sinclair, the First Lord Pentland, and the Governor of Madras between 1912 and 1919—and draw out the themes that emerge from this treasure trove of 20th-century photography
Parallel Histories: Personal Photos as a Political Statement
Powerful pieces of imagery from personal albums are setting down in history what is otherwise undocumented and therefore unacknowledged, acting as the nuanced subtext that is drastically missing from our public rhetoric. We talk to the curators of these intimate archives
Think Small: Carte de Visites, Cabinet Cards & Travelling Portraits
The invention of Carte de Visites and Cabinet Cards made photography affordable and accessible to the masses—and this changed the very nature of the beast. Through Sarmaya’s priceless collection, we present a history of portable portraits
King’s Circle – Ram Singh & the Art of Intimate Portraiture
We spoke to Aparna Andhare, Curator of the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum about Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh’s iconic portraits of the royal zenana and the man himself
Portraits of a Pandemic
We asked photographers and artists how they interpreted the seasons of 2020 through their work to paint a portrait of an extraordinary year
Early Photography
A 21st-century take on vintage photography techniques like platinum prints, stereoscopic photos and cyanotypes. Plus, an intriguing trail of portraits of Indian women from the Caribbean
Beyond the Form: Portraits in Modern Indian Art
Discovering the portraiture of four Modern artists from the Sarmaya collection — F.N. Souza, Laxma Goud, Dhruvi Acharya and Alexander Gorlizki
People of India
“A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it.” As the chief photographer for Vogue and Vanity Fair in the early 1900s, Edward Steichen knew what he was talking about. Portraiture is the result of a dynamic collaboration between photographer and model, both of whom colour the final frame with… Read more »
Who is an Indian – Crafting Identity Through Photography
Early portraits in India were taken by foreigners and for a foreign audience. Let’s see how the genre of ethnographic photography has evolved in time
India’s OG Influencers – The expressive portraits of 19th-century royalty
While digital influencers seek to turn online adulation into cash in the bank, our royals had plenty of the latter and were in the limelight to win hearts and minds. Here’s how they did it through their portraits