Camera Indica: The Social Life of Indian Photographs

Rating:
Summary: Ground-breaking, but leaves rough ground...
Review: There are not many books or articles out there that treat the subject of photography in India in any sort of analytical fashion, and for being one of the first in its field, this book breaks some truly fascinating ground. The first half of this books traces the history of photography in India from its invention in the 19th century to its current forms, while the second half focuses more on the role of photographs in contemporary Indian society. I found the first half of it much more engaging and interesting simply in the material that Pinney uncovers through archives in both India and the United Kingdom, which he links through a very intricate analysis of colonial relations in the 19th century through an emphasis on anthropological photography (perhaps the highlight of the book). The second half of the book is rather repetitive and Pinney adopts a much more narrative style which does not prove effective in the end; it reads at times like a series of anecdotes strung together and the analysis becomes thinner and thinner as the book nears its end. In the conclusion, the book ends with some interesting observations about the role of the image in postcolonial India, yet these observations are not rigorously grounded in the analyais the precedes them. Nevertheless, Pinney had set out on a very difficult task in a field which is rife with lists and dates rather than analysis and paradigms, and as such, this is a fine, critically-engaged book, and essential reading for anyone interested in postcolonialism, visuality, or modernity.