A MONUMENTAL EYE

An exhibition on Indian monuments in colonial times reveals how photography influences popular imaginations and histories

- Arshia

A photograph of a monument is more than what meets the eye. It's an act of "heritagisation", says Sudeshna Guha, who has curated the exhibition, Histories in the Making: Photographing Indian Monuments, 1855-1920, which opens on August 31 at DAG, Delhi. This "heritagisation" through photographs is a means to choose monuments for documentation which, in turn, determines the status of many as historic monuments to be conserved.

Through the showcase, Guha explores the ways in which British colonisers employed photographers and photography to capture the peoples of the subcontinent and its built heritage.