In 1860, a young British officer from the Indian army set out to discover the colours of India by clicking pictures of its people.
India was very much unknown to the British and James Waterhouse who later became the director of Survey of India (National survey and mapping organisation of the country), played a crucial role in discovering the culture of the country with his experiments with photographic processes.
The recently launched book — The Waterhouse Albums: Central India Provinces — features some rare pictures of India from the late 19th century. Rahaab Allana, curator at Alkazi Foundation (a charitable trust dedicated to the study of cultural exploration of India) informs, “During the 60s, the British were eager to know what the people of India thought of them. They wanted to know who could and couldn’t be on their side. Thus the government had assigned many possible army cadets and medical officers to go and find out about the existing tribes and rulers.”
Waterhouse’s works featuring tribes such as the bheels, boharas and Muslim rulers among others were published in an eight part publication called The People of India, in 1868. A rare picture is that of the three generations of female Muslim rulers from Bhopal.
“The Muslim women were always in purdah. And it was very difficult to get them out. A picture of Madame Doolan, Shah Jehan and Begum of Bhopal was shot with the help of a female assistant. James set the three women in his camera frame while they still wore their purdah. He had to leave and hide behind a curtain while the women removed the purdah. Then a female assistant would come and click the picture of the frame set by James,” explains Allana.
Although Waterhouse was only supposed to make observations about Indians, his remarks about the locals hold them in high dignity. “James has been very graceful in portraying Indians. He truly played a crucial link in connecting with the Indians. His pictures today rouse the public conscious in reinterpreting the history of India,” remarks Allana.
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