Captain Linnaeus Trip: Photographer of India and Burma, 1852-1860

Interesting exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum of photographs by Linnaeus Trip, a former army officer and surveyor working for the British East India Company who saw how you could use photography to show other cultures.

His work began with taking view of interest to military men but on his return to India in 1854 he used photography to gather information for the British East India Company, one of the largest commercial enterprises at the time, aiming to present information comprehensively and without ambiguity. He therefore photographs building from many angles to give a systematic record.

However this also produced beautifully pictures often of buildings which no longer exist such as pictures of Rangoon before it was developed by the British.

The show also talked about what a massive undertaking the production of his portfolios of pictures was as a total edition consisted of 171,765 prints all of which had to be printed by hand.

This show was a fascinating insight into the early uses of photography and some of the difficulties then of using a medium which is every day to us now.

Review
Independent

 

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