Photography in India A Visual History from the 1850s to the Present

This book follows the remarkable story of photography in India from the 1850s to today.

India has one of the richest and most extensive histories of photography in the world. This book traces that history, covering more than a century of photography trends, and political, artistic, and societal movements. Organized chronologically, it covers colonial and early Indian images from the first artistic photographs and portraiture to photojournalism and foreign reportage. The book also covers social documentary, modernism, contemporary art, and the current art scene. As the country evolved from a colonial territory to an independent state to an economic force in the region, its photography reflected the country's development. Leading Indian photographers are included in this well-researched and engaging book that also highlights lesser-known artists and features examples of street, architecture, and landscape photography. This volume is a fascinating look at how today's leading Indian photographers hark back to the work of their predecessors more than a century ago.

Nathaniel Gaskell is the co-founder and associate director of the Museum of Art & Photography, Bangalore, and the former director of the Tasveer Gallery. His previous books include William Dalrymple: The Historian's Eye, Derry Moore: In the Shadow of the Raj (Prestel), Karan Kapoor: Time & Tide and Hikari: Contemporary Photography from Japan. He lives between Bangalore and Singapore.

Diva Gujral is a writer, curator and PhD scholar at the department of History of Art, University College London. Her research assesses photographic practices in India in relation to India's Cold War-era political and cultural policy of non-alignment. She received her BA Hons in History at the University of Delhi (2012) and an MA in History of Art from University College London (2015). She writes for Frieze and Critical Collective.