[INDOLOGY] Query regarding a photograph

Thu Jul 17 18:17:54 UTC 2025

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 <
indology at list.indology.info> 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 <indology-request at list.indology.info>
> wrote:
>
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>> Today's Topics:
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>>    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 <ambapradeep at gmail.com>
>> To: bvparishat at googlegroups.com, indology at list.indology.info
>> 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>
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>> http://tdil-dc.in/san/
>> http://sanskrit.uohyd.ac.in/faculty/amba
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: Ananya Vajpeyi <vajpeyi at csds.in>
>> To: Indology <indology at list.indology.info>
>> 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: vajpeyi at csds.in <vajpeyi at csds.in>*
>> *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/>*
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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