Colonial Representations of British India: A Description and Analysis of the First Twenty-Four Issues of The Indian Amateur’s Photographic Album

This thesis provides a description and analysis of the first twenty four issues of the Indian Amateur's Photographic Album (IAPA), serially published between 1856 and 1858, in the collection of George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film (GEH). The thesis traces the origins of the publication to the creation of the Bombay Photographic Society, and considers its relationship with European photographic societies and a similar publication in Europe. It contains an extensive literature survey summarizing the current state of research on the IAPA within the framework of colonialist photography in British India: a detailed description of the publication and an analysis of the photographic and written components of the IAPA; and a consideration of the IAPA's contributions to and its role in the visual culture of nineteenth century India. Three appendices accompany the thesis, including an annotated and fully illustrated catalogue of the seventy-two photographs in GEH album.