Unframed by Rahaab Allana

South Asian photography goes back to the mid-nineteenth century when the British created colonial rule. 

- Swapna Peri

British colonial officials and merchants brought photography to the subcontinent to record the region's people, landscapes, and buildings. Photos began as a science and ethnographic study tool, but they soon became a popular medium for portraits and business photos. In 1840, a British photographer called William Johnson opened the first photography workshop in India in Calcutta. (now Kolkata).