The earliest reference to the Camera in Mewar was found in the work of Col. James Tod, the British Political Agent in Udaipur. In his interactions with the then heir of Mewar, Kunwar Amar Singh, son of Maharana Bheem Singh (r. 1778-1828 CE), the Camera Obscura, a device that Col. James Tod had brought along with him, was explored. Expeditiously the Camera and Photography gained immense popularity across India and within The Mewar Family.
It subsequently reached out to include not only the nobility but also a larger group of diverse local communities. This online exhibition forms a part of a larger exhibition, on display, at The City Palace Museum, Udaipur where it captures the transient journey of photography in Mewar, including the evolution in its techniques.
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Maharana Shambhu Singh of Udaipur | Ritter & Molkenteller, Bombay & Poona | Albumen print on carte-de-visite | 1865 CE | CPMU 2008.01.0331
Maharana Sajjan Singh of Udaipur | Bourne & Shepherd, India | Albumen print on carte-de-visite | 1875 CE | CPMU 2008.01.0269i
Fateh Lal and Jodh Singh Mehta | Albumen print on carte-de-visite | 1875 CE | CPMU 2008.01.0078i
The southern façade of The City Palace, Udaipur | Albumen print | 1880 CE | CPMU 2008.06.0106
Maharana Fateh Singh of Udaipur | J. Cowell, Shimla | Carbon print | 1884 CE | CPMU 2008.07.0120
Photo montage of the forty-four foremost chiefs in India | Herzog & Higgins, Mhow | 1920 CE | CPMU 2008.07.0201
Gangaur Ghat and Bagore-ki-Haveli, Udaipur | B. Framjee | Gelatin silver print | 1925 CE | CPMU 2008.06.0155
Maharana Bhupal Singh’s accession durbar at the Sabha Shiromani Darikhana, The City Palace,Udaipur | Gelatin silver print | August 1930 CE | CPMU 2008.06.0429
Maharaj Kumar Bhagwat Singh of Udaipur | K. L. Syed & Co., Palanpur | Gelatin silver print | 1940 CE | CPMU 2008.08.209
Maharana Bhupal Singh with Lady Edwina Mountbatten, wife of the last Viceroy of India | Devare & Co. | Gelatin silver print | 1948 CE | CPMU 2009.10.0174-00048
