Choice Reviews Online · 1998 · 398 citations · 0 references
HumanitiesArt HistoryCultural StudiesNative American StudiesPhotographyVisual CultureAmerican PhotographyIndigenous Visual CultureNative American ArtPhotographic HistoryPhotography In AnthropologyVisual EthnographyCultural Identity In PhotographyHistorical PhotographyIndigenous PhotographyNative American PhotographyPhotographic Self-representationPostcolonial PhotographyReflexivity In PhotographyUrban Social Life
The book examines how Indian photographic portraiture has evolved over the past 150 years, reflecting shifting political interests, a move away from fixed identity, and a post‑colonial visual culture that embraces inventive techniques such as overpainting, collage, and composite printing. It seeks to illuminate the production, use, and significance of studio‑made images in a small central‑Indian town. The study combines historical and ethnographic methods, drawing on the author’s fieldwork in India to analyze studio production of images.
Exploring the changing role of photographic portraiture in India over the last 150 years, this is an anthropological study of photographic practice in the everyday realm of Indian society. The book combines historical and ethnographic perspectives, based on the author's own experiences in India. Pinney looks at significant moments in Indian photography and considers the ways in which photographic portraiture reflects changing political interests, a decreasing desire to fix identity, and a broader popular visual culture. A distinctive post-colonial photographic practice emerges, characterized by a sophisticated inventiveness using techniques such as overpainting, collage and composite printing. Much of the book is concerned with the production of such images by studios in a small central-Indian town, and it aims to provide readers with a sense of their use and significance.