Early Photography in Asia: South Asia

The University of Colorado Boulder Libraries holds a variety of early photographs of South Asia. As a heavily colonized region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the photographs are overwhelmingly from a colonial/western perspective. Therefore, although important documentary evidence of life in the region, it is important to view these images with a critical eye and consider how these photographs may reinforce orientalist and colonial ideologies and contribute to an “othering” of local people.

Note that the library does not currently have original photographs of many South Asian countries apart from India and Sri Lanka. However, there are published photography books on these other countries both in the rare books stacks and in the circulating library collection.