Posing such scenes was a regular element in "travel/anthropology" photography in the 19th century. Curtis' famous American Indian photos (where the subjects often wore outfits drawn from several cultures--likely collected by Curtis during his travels) were all posed. 19th c. photos required long exposure times, and so were generally pre-planned.
The Boston Traveler from this date is available online, but, I don't see the photo: https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/book_viewer/commonwealth:9w038c030#?xywh=-5628%2C0%2C18452%2C8997&cv= Herman Tul Princeton, NJ On Thu, Jul 17, 2025 at 1:13 PM Tyler Neill via INDOLOGY < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi Ananya, > > I have some thoughts on the photo. I worked to renovate Widener A from > 2015–2016 and also took an interest in understanding it. > > At the time, I did a Google image search of it. That brought me to the > website of the Kerala Folklore Museum, which had an identical > black-and-white item (attached) as one of many such photographs. The old > version of that website which had these photos is available on Wayback > (2017 grab) > <https://web.archive.org/web/20171030152248/http://keralafolkloremuseum.org/anthraGallerys.php?id=21> > but > unfortunately no longer serves the images. The new version of > https://keralafolkloremuseum.org <http://keralafolkloremuseum.org> (created > in 2018 as far as I know) does not have this photo collection at all. My > meager understanding of the museum is that nearly all items, including the > photos, were collected by the founder George J. Thaliath. > > More importantly, I think these kinds of photographs in those days were > not always genuinely representing real scenes. Instead, actors were often > hired and posed with props. My guess is that this is one of those types of > photos—which is to say, not necessarily real teachers in any way—and that > there were many copies, and that (perhaps) Lanman himself purchased one of > these photos as a keepsake during his trip to Maharashtra in 1889. Thaliath > then obtained his own copy through whatever means. Again, just an educated > guess. > > The museum is on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/folkloremuseumcochin. > You may be able to get in touch with them to find out more. > > Best regards, > Tyler > > > On Wed, Jul 16, 2025 at 8:00 AM <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Send INDOLOGY mailing list submissions to >> [email protected] >> >> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit >> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to >> [email protected] >> >> You can reach the person managing the list at >> [email protected] >> >> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >> than "Re: Contents of INDOLOGY digest..." >> Today's Topics: >> >> 1. Proceedings of Computational Sanskrit and Digital Humanities >> - WSC Kathmandu, 2025 (Amba Kulkarni) >> 2. Query regarding a photograph (Ananya Vajpeyi) >> >> >> >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: Amba Kulkarni <[email protected]> >> To: [email protected], [email protected] >> Cc: >> Bcc: >> Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2025 18:46:20 +0530 >> Subject: [INDOLOGY] Proceedings of Computational Sanskrit and Digital >> Humanities - WSC Kathmandu, 2025 >> Dear list, >> >> We are pleased to announce the online publication of the proceedings of >> the "Computational Sanskrit and Digital Humanities" section at WSC, >> Kathmandu at https://aclanthology.org/volumes/2025.wsc-csdh/ >> >> >> Best, >> Amba Kulkarni & Oliver Hellwig >> >> >> -- >> >> आ नो भद्रा: क्रतवो यन्तु विश्वत: ll >> Let noble thoughts come to us from every side. >> - Rig Veda, I-89-i. >> >> Sr. Professor & Head >> Department of Sanskrit Studies >> University of Hyderabad >> Prof. C.R. Rao Road >> Hyderabad-500 046 >> >> (91) 040 23133802(off) >> >> http://scl.samsaadhanii.in <http://sanskrit.uohyd.ac.in/faculty/amba> >> http://sanskrit.uohyd.ac.in/scl >> http://tdil-dc.in/san/ >> http://sanskrit.uohyd.ac.in/faculty/amba >> >> >> >> >> >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: Ananya Vajpeyi <[email protected]> >> To: Indology <[email protected]> >> Cc: >> Bcc: >> Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2025 11:01:36 +0530 >> Subject: [INDOLOGY] Query regarding a photograph >> Dear List Members, >> >> Attached is a photograph that is kept in Room A of Widener Library, at >> Harvard. This is a room with Sanskrit materials: >> >> https://sas.fas.harvard.edu/sanskrit-library-widener-library-room-a/ >> >> We know nothing about this photo -- who took it, why, when, where -- >> nothing. Just that a piece of paper used to line the frame is newsprint >> from The Boston Traveler, Saturday, May 22, 1897. >> >> I realize many of you would have used Room A and have probably seen this >> photo at some point. >> >> Any information about it that you might have would be very helpful, >> thanks! >> >> Best, >> >> Ananya. >> -- >> >> *Ananya Vajpeyi * >> *Professor * >> *Centre for the Study of Developing Societies* >> *29 Rajpur Rd., Civil Lines* >> *New Delhi 110054, INDIA* >> *EMAIL: [email protected] <[email protected]>* >> *CSDS BIO: **https://www.csds.in/ananya_vajpeyi* >> <https://www.csds.in/ananya_vajpeyi> >> *RESEARCH PROJECT: https://www.nilgiri.ugent.be/team/ >> <https://www.nilgiri.ugent.be/team/>* >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> INDOLOGY mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >> > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >
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