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SUMMARY:The lens and the maharaja: The photographic remaking of Indian kin
 gship in the late colonial period - Teresa Segura-Garcia (PhD\, Faculty of
  History\, University of Cambridge)
DTSTART:20150526T150000Z
DTEND:20150526T170000Z
UID:TALK58893@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Annamaria Motrescu-Mayes
DESCRIPTION:The use of photographic portraiture as an instrument of coloni
 al knowledge of the peoples of South Asia has been well-documented. While 
 photography enabled colonial officials to “know the native”\, Indians 
 too embraced the medium. This presentation examines the relationship betwe
 en one such group of Indians — the rulers of India’s understudied prin
 cely states — and photographic portraiture. At a time when Indian rulers
  faced complex demands on how they were to rule\, live and behave from Bri
 tish administrators\, Indian nationalists\, court officials and subjects\,
  how did rulers employ photography to respond to the often contradictory e
 xpectations of these audiences? \nThe presentation answers this question t
 hrough a single set of studio portraits of Maharaja Sayajirao III Gaekwar 
 of Baroda\, who ruled the leading state of western India from 1875 to 1939
 . This set of portraits\, taken on 18 November 1919 in London\, features t
 he ruler repeating the exact same poses in two different formal outfits: t
 he royal robe of a prince of western India and the morning suit of a gentl
 eman. With this double presence in front of the lens\, the Maharaja transg
 ressed the well-established classification of Indian rulers as either trad
 itional autocrats or Anglicised princes by depicting himself as both\, all
 owing him to appeal to different audiences. Through an in-depth analysis o
 f these portraits\, set against the portraiture practices of contemporary 
 Indian rulers\, I argue that photography allowed them to fashion new princ
 ely selves. In the process\, they created a new\, mutable form of kingship
  for the late colonial period. As such\, visual culture provides hitherto 
 unexplored insights that advance our understanding of Indian kingship and\
 , by extension\, of power and authority in modern India. \n
LOCATION:S2 Seminar Room\, Alison Richard Building\, 7 West Rd.
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