DAG: How photography helped the British empire classify India
GS1History · Society · Geography· Modern India & freedom struggle· Mains·
Why in news
DAG gallery is hosting an exhibition 'Typecasting: Photographing the Peoples of India, 1855-1920' showcasing how the British used photography to classify Indian communities.
Background
The exhibition features nearly 200 rare photographs from 1855-1920. It draws from the eight-volume photographic survey 'The People of India' published between 1868 and 1875.
Facts for Prelims
- PlaceThe exhibition features images from the north-east, northwest, Nilgiris, and western India.
- FactThe photographic survey 'The People of India' consists of eight volumes.
- FactThe survey was published between 1868 and 1875.
For Mains
Q. How did colonial visual representations and ethnographic surveys contribute to the construction of social identities and administrative control in British India?
Dimensions to cover in your answer
- Epistemic violence: Use of photography to fix fluid identities into rigid colonial categories
- Administrative legibility: Mapping social differences to facilitate surveillance and governance
- Visual hegemony: Construction of 'Otherness' through curated imagery to justify colonial rule
Keywords: Colonialism · Ethnography · Visual Culture · Social Stratification · Epistemic Violence
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