Ever since the early days of the invention of Photography, attempts have been made to warm up the black and white image using pastel colours.

Women have been consistently contributing to the world of photography ever since the early days, despite being often neglected, ignored and not given much recognition. This blog is a short compilation of some of the early trailblazers! If you know someone who should be featured here, please comment below!

Photographic technology over the last few decades has allowed us to create near perfect images sometimes in seconds and there are very few of us today who stop to think of the revolution in the field of photography that has allowed us to reach where are today.

The carte de visite made affordable portraits widely accessible and sparked a mass craze for photographic self-representation in the 19th century. In India, it enabled new visual identities by bringing photography to royals and commoners alike.

Framing Femininity explores the role of women as photographers and subjects in 19th-century India, uncovering stories of visibility, artistry, and power in the early years of photography.

The darkroom is a place of wonder, a unique space where light-sensitive photographic materials and chemistry come together to transform invisibility into vivid, tangible images. This intimate, carefully controlled environment forms an essential chapter in the long history of photography. Foundational to analogue photography, it is crucial to explore the simple history of the darkroom and how it has shapeshifted with time and technological advancements.

Today, projectors are everywhere. It is impossible to think about education and learning without visualizing dark classrooms where teachers give presentations on screen through a projector. Projectors are unique in how they capture everyone’s attention, compelling them to focus on the projection on the wall. Magic Lanterns, a predecessor to modern-day projectors, played a fascinating and often overlooked role in the history of visual culture. These optical devices, which projected images from lantern slides onto walls or screens, transformed the way people experienced distant places long before the advent of cinema.

Today, everyone knows about the camera company Kodak. In comparison, little is known about Kodak’s ingenious advertisements from the mid-20th century, and how they were the first to have women in their advertisements called the ‘Kodak Girl’. Kodak’s rise and the figure of the “Kodak Girl” unfolded together. As Kodak simplified photography and built a mass market, the Kodak Girl emerged as a modern feminine icon who sold cameras, memories, and a way of life. She represented an ideal for youth, mobility, and respectable fun, and in colonial India, her image was reworked onto Indian female bodies to naturalize both domestic modernity and new consumer desires.