Visual history

Portrait photographs from the 19th and early 20th centuries from the Alkazi collection make for a rich visual interpretive history and contribute to a nuanced understanding of many contemporary quandaries.

Higginbotham & Co., Madras and Bangalore, "A Proud Father", tinted phototype postcard, c. 1900, 137 x 88 mm.

Skeen & Co., Ceylon, "Tamil Woman", albumen print, c. 1860-1890, 272 x 210 mm.

Cambridge and Company, "Parsees", albumen print, c. 1890, 184 x 234 mm.

Julian Rust, India, "Dharnidhar Rajya Laxmi Rana, Maharani of Tiloi (Eldest daughter of Sir Baber Chandra Shamsher Rana)", gelatin silver print, c. 1890-1920, 287 x 231 mm.

Plate & Co., Ceylon, "Group of Kandyan Chiefs", albumen print, c. 1890, 205 x 257 mm).

Unknown photographer and artist, "Hakim Ajmal Khan and Family" (Hakim Ajmal Khan was a noted Indian freedom fighter, president of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League and the founder and the first Chancellor of Jamia Milia Islamia University, New Delhi), gelatin silver print and watercolour, c. 1890-1920, 556 x 711 mm.

Skeen & Co., Ceylon (attribution), “ " Tea Plantation, Ceylon ” " , albumen print, c. 1860-1890, 212 x 267 mm.

William Johnson (attribution), “ " Owdich Brahmins ” " from The Oriental Races and Tribes, Residents and Visitors of Bombay, Vol. II, albumen print, c. 1866, 230 x 177 mm.

Samuel Bourne, "Toda Village and Todas, Nilgiri Hills, Tamil Nadu", albumen print, 1869, 229 x 285 mm.

Plate & Co., Colombo and Nuwara Eliya, "Group of Veddahs", albumen print and watercolour, c. 1890-1900, 235 x 286 mm.

Gobindram & Oodeyram (attribution), "Parched Grain Seller", albumen print, c. 1880-1900, 109 x 137 mm.

Adolphe Philip Klier, "A Burmese Villager with Tattooed Body", albumen print, c. 1887-1895, 271 x 212 mm.

Plate & Co., Ceylon, "Cigarette" , phototype postcard, c. 1900-1910, 137 x 88 mm.

Felice Beato, "Crucified Dacoits by the Villagers near Myingyan" , albumen print, 1885, 201 x 268 mm.

Gobindram & Oodeyram (attribution), "A Nautch Girl at her Toilet", albumen print, c. 1880, 126 x 163 mm.

Unknown photographer, "The Hairy family of Burma", albumen print, c. 1890, 235 x 182 mm.

Felice Beato, "Commander in Chief of the Burmese Army in Court Dress", albumen print, c. 1880-1885, 258 x 197 mm.

Unknown photographer and Devi Lal (Udaipur), “ " Maharaja Madhav Rao Scindia II of Gwalior ” " (1886-1925), gelatin silver print and oil paint, c. 1920-1925, 588 x 407 mm.

S.B. Syed Dabhol, unknown artist, "Lady Painting a Portrait", gelatin silver print and water colour, c. 1920-1940, 223 x 280 mm.

Bourne & Shepherd, Photographers to H.E. The Viceroy, Calcutta, "Maharana Fateh Singh of Udaipur" (1849-1930, platinum print, c. 1876-1900, 366 x 274 mm.

Bourne & Shepherd, Photographers to H.E. The Viceroy, Calcutta; D.L. Udaipur, Mewar, "Maharana Fateh Singh of Udaipur" (1849-1930, platinum print and oil paint, c. 1876-1900, 534 x 411 mm.