When photography was introduced in India, it documented and glorified colonial conquests in the name of anthropological and ethnographic preservation. However, it steadily made way for capturing creative imaginations that would shape modern and contemporary India by giving photographers the agency to shape the narrative from an inward gaze.

Through 15 vibrant and exhaustive essays, art critic and curator Gayatri Sinha explores the evolution of photography, from formative trends like pictorialism to studio photography to documentary filmmaking and photojournalism. In the essays, art critics, scholars, historians and photographers borrowing from disciplines like anthropology, film and media criticism, museology, gender and queer studies demonstrate photography’s distinct niche in India. They impress upon the vital importance of visual communication as a nation-building tool for a young republic with low literacy at the time of independence.

Contributors like Jyotindra Jain, Rahaab Allana, Deepali Dewan, Sumathy Ramaswamy, Diva Gujral, Sabeena Gadihoke, Ranu Roychoudhuri, Shanay Jhaveri, Ranjani Mazumdar, Suryanandini Narain, Kajri Jain, Parul Dave Mukherji, Gayatri Gopinath, Chinar Shah and Aileen Blaney bring their collective expertise from the fields of art, history, film and political studies to enrich this seminal publication.

Edited: Gayatri Sinha
Publisher: Kiran Nadar Museum of Art
Pages: 390
ISBN: 978-8192803715