Research Guides: Early Photography in Asia: Sri Lanka

Rare and Distinctive Collections

rad@colorado.edu

Website

Classroom: Norlin N345

Reading Room: Norlin M350B

Rare Books Librarian

Sean Babbs

Email Me

East Asian Librarian

Xiang Li

Contact:

xiang.li@colorado.edu

(303) 492-7454

Subjects: Asian Languages & Civilizations

Introduction

The University of Colorado Boulder Libraries holds a variety of early photographs of Sri Lanka (at the time called Ceylon), mostly those produced by British photography studios in the 1800s. As a British colony by the time reproducible photography spread throughout the island, the photographs are overwhelmingly from a British imperial perspective. Therefore, although important documentary evidence of life in India, it is important to view these images with a critical eye and consider how these photographs often reinforce imperial ideologies and contribute to an “othering” of local people.

This page also includes links to other digital libraries that hold significant collections of early photographs of Sri Lanka.

Western photographers

Scotland to Ceylon via the Suez, 1869 - 1879
Note: not digitized, link goes to the catalog record.
This album features 74 albumen prints capturing the natural landscapes, monumental architecture, and local populations of Scotland, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), parts of England and the area around the Suez Canal (all within the boundaries of the British Empire at the time).
Asia and Mediterranean Photograph Album, 1875-1891
Note: link goes to the digitized album.
A photograph album with images taken and collected from Asia and the Mediterranean, likely over a couple of decades. A few pages (p. 15-20) of the images are from Sri Lanka, including portraits of Kandian and Tamil peoples, and a view of boats and native peoples along the Ratnapura River (Kalu Ganga).

Western photographers

Digital South Asian Library (University of Chicago)
A large collection of digitized photographs of South Asia, some from the colonial era.
India Office Photography Collections (British Library)
One of the largest colonial photographic archives of India and South Asia. A subset of images are available online.
Cambridge Digital Library
Cambridge holds many images of colonial India, some of which are searchable on their digital library.
Calisphere (All University of California Institutions)
A large repository of digitized items and photographs from the many schools in the University of California system. It includes a variety of Southeast Asian photographs; search by country, city, etc. to narrow your results.
Harvard Digital Collections
A large database of millions of digitized photographs held by Harvard. Search by country, city, and more to find those related to Southeast Asia.

Published photographs of Sri Lanka

At the CU Boulder Libraries
Other digital items

Under construction, check back soon!