Allegory and Illusion: Early Portrait Photography from South Asia (Alkazi Collection of Photography)

The extraordinary range of photography from South Asia dates back to the official birth of the medium - in the mid-19th century. This catalogue, published to accompany an exhibition at the Rubin Museum, offers an intimate survey of vintage images from the modern nations of India, Sri Lanka, Burma and Nepal.The three lead essays together with photographer biographies and techniques, present varied perspectives on photography's development of a unique vernacular culture. Ethnography, identity, integration and assimilation are some of the key notions that underlie practices of portraiture and domestic space - recording how an image may be perceived in our digital world today.Some of the leading photographers and studios presented are Felice Beato, Bourne & Shepherd, Johnnstone and Hoffmann, Gobind Ram Oodey Ram, Darogah Abba Ali, Raja Deen Dayal and Shapur Bhedwar.