Architectural Photography

Architecture has always been an important subject for photographers. Its ubiquity as a theme in photographs made in nineteenth-century India, though, was motivated by a variety of social, economic, scholarly and political reasons.

From early explorers and military officers to amateur photographers, a range of people worked on architectural surveys initiated by the British administration. While drawings and prints continued to be used to record monuments, photography would go on to become the desired method of documentation. 

The growth of architectural photography was also driven by commercial interests. A growing European market for photographs of historical monuments as souvenirs led studios such as Frances Frith & Co., and Bourne & Shepherd to add to the growing archive. Indian photographers followed suit, the most successful of whom was Lala Deen Dayal. Today, these photographs are enduring records of both the monuments and the complex socio-cultural realities of their time. 

The images capture the various built structures in and around Delhi—from the Red Fort, Qudsia Bagh and the Qutub Complex to Safdarjung.