The man in the frame: Qutub Minar, circa 1870s

 

Happy New Year to everyone! This Blog has also turned one! Yes, my first blogpost was published around this time last year, so this is a special post of sorts. 

 

Featured today is an iconic image, that of the Qutub Minar (loosely translated as ‘Victory Tower’) built in the 13^th century. The Qutub area is now an archaeological/heritage site (I have posted on the Qutub and Mehrauli previously). This photograph was taken in the 1870s. We don’t know who took the photo but this is an albumen print – a method of photographic printing using egg whites. This is also a very early picture of the Qutub. 

 

Interestingly, it’s during this time photography is becoming a tool to capture (and in a sense, ‘produce’) monuments across British India. Delhi, known as the ‘Rome of Asia’, was the perfect place to experiment with this technology and monumentalise the landscape. The process was unabashedly political. Photography was used to portray ruins and older archaeological sites as remnants of a civilisation in decay, which some scholars argue was used to justify British intervention. 

 

What complicates this slightly is the figure on the bottom right-hand corner of the image (also below). If you look closely, you’ll notice an Indian man posing in the photograph! In other words, the whole process of image capture- producing a decayed landscape and of course, depopulated space has been ruined by the fashionable figure in the corner of the frame. One might argue that this figure was coerced into the shot to serve the photographer. However, I disagree. The man is not easily categorised as a subject for ‘documentation’ nor does he fit the typical ‘street scene.’ He doesn’t contribute to the sense of desolation. In fact, his confident pose—his hand on his waist and one leg outstretched—actively disrupts the photographer’s gaze. This is a figure looking dapper and asserting his presence.

See you next Friday for another post on Delhi.