History of Nepali photographers
Ashutosh Tiwari
History of Nepali Photographers
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Changing Faces of Nepal
Compiled and written by Susanne von der Heide
Kathmandu, Ratna Pustak Bhandar, 1997
Rs 950
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A review by Pratyoush Onta
Until recently photography in Nepal was in search of a historian! Some
recently published evidence of scholarly interest in this subject now
suggests that the wait is almost over. Changing Faces of Nepal is one such
evidence. It is a catalogue prepared for an exhibition at UNESCO (Paris,
December 1997) of selective photos taken by the Chitrakars of Bhimsensthan,
Kathmandu over the 20th century. It has been compiled and written by
Susanne von der Heide, a familiar Nepal hand.
After several prefatory remarks, we come across a brief statement with the
title "The Past in the Present" where Heide discusses the cultural
developments witnessed in Kathmandu in the modern era of Nepali history. In
particular she highlights how the Ranas cultivated a "taste for Western
cultural and consumer goods." This change meant that Chitrakars who had
access to Rana courts had to redefine their traditional role as painters
and artists.
When photography entered the scene in late 19th century, some
took it up even as they continued to paint. The new technology also gave
birth to the hybrid product of 'retouched' photos (photos that had been
reworked with the painter's brush).
In the following essay (spiced with relevant photos) entitled "Pioneers of
Early Photography in Nepal: Photographers, Artists and Patrons" Heide
provides substantial information on pioneering Nepali photographers and
wealthy Rana individuals who patronized them. The book also contains 60
photographs, 59 of which were taken by the father and son duo of Dirga Man
Chitrakar (1877-1951) and Ganesh Man Chitrakar (1906-1985) between 1909 and
1970.
Heide identifies Dambar Shamsher (1859-1922), younger brother of Rana RM
Bir Shamsher (r. 1885-1901) as the first Nepali photographer. Dambar had
set up a photo studio in his durbar with money provided by his father Dhir
Shamsher. It seems that Dambar had learnt the art in the mid-1870s from
European photographers who had visited Nepal from India, namely Bourne and
Shepherd. Dambar's son Samar Shamsher and grandson Bal Krishna Sama (one of
the founding pillars of modern Nepali literature) were also good
photographers.
Heide names Purna Man Chitrakar (c. 1863-1939) as an important early
photographer who was patronized by Dambar Shamsher and Gehendra Shamsher,
son of Bir Shamsher. Purna Man is said to have learnt photography from the
former around 1880 and was sent to Calcutta in the early 1880s for further
training. Even as he continued to paint, Purna Man also received
instructions from a Bengali photographer Neel Madhaba Deen who was invited
to Kathmandu in 1888.
Dirga Man Chitrakar came under the tutelage of Purna Man in the early 1890s
when he was in his early teens. Later he was patronized by Chandra Shamsher
(r. 1901-1929) who gave him a job in the art department in Singha Durbar
and took him in his entourage to Europe in 1908.
Whether Dirga Man took any pictures while he was there has not been
ascertained but it is known for sure that many cameras were brought back
to Nepal at the end of that trip. It is with them that Dirga Man began to
photograph, and this also explains why the earliest photos taken by him
included in this exhibition date to 1909. He set up an enlargement studio
in his house in Bhimsensthan around then as well and later taught
photography to his son Ganesh Man.
Purna Man taught photography to many Chitrakars: his brother Badra Man,
Badra Man's brothers-in-law Ratna Bahadur and Hira Bahadur; Krishna
Bahadur, Tej Bahadur and possibly Harka Lal Chitrakar and his son Prithvi
Lal. Other pioneering Chitrakar photographers mentioned by Heide include
Chaite Chitrkar and his son Purna; Prithvi Man Chitrakar, the brothers
Laxmi Bahadur and Tulsi Bahadur (grandsons of the famous artist Bhaju Man
who Jung Bahadur had taken to Europe in 1850) and the latter's sons Buddhi
Bahadur and Krishna Bahadur.
Other early photographers included Chakra Bahadur Kayestha and his three
sons: Tej, Darsan and Sahilu; Madan and Sri Man Kayestha; Ghyan Bahadur
Karmacharya and his brother Shanta Bahadur, latter's son Samar; Narayan
Prasad Joshi, Pashupati Lal Shrestha, Bharat Shrestha and Tirath Raj
Manandhar, Govind Vaidya, Bishnu Dhoj Joshi and his son Hiranya Dhoj.
Heide also briefly discusses the first photographers in Nepal who were
almost certainly Europeans. As was reported in a 1992 article by J. P.
Losty, the earliest photographs taken in Nepal that can be
uncontroversially dated are those taken by Clarence C Taylor, an officer at
the British Residency in Kathmandu, in 1863.
Among the 60 photos exhibited, some have been developed from the original
glass negatives; some have been published before. We get a glimpse of many
of Kathmandu's monuments before they were destroyed by calamities such as
the 1934 earthquake or catastrophic fires. Shots of Rana courts and
families can also be seen. Other photos show different Kathmandu locations
during festivals and ordinary occasions. Clothings of the Ranas and
ordinary people seen in different photos make for an interesting
comparison. Of great interest are two pictures that depict a Chitrakar
marriage in 1927 and the extended family of the photographers in 1947.
To conclude then, this is an important contribution to the history of
Nepali photography. Heide's presentation, however, suffers from some
omissions. She provides no photographs of Purna Man Chitrakar. In the
references given at the end of the book, the title of this reviewer's
article on Balkrishna Sama published in Studies in Nepali History and
Society (vol 2, no.1) is inaccurate.
More surprising is her lack of references to Mark Liechty's article
published in the same issue on how Nepal's modern rulers have consumed
foreign goods and foreignness and to my 10,000-word, six-part article
entitled "History of Photography in Nepal" published in this paper in
1994. In the latter, I had proposed a scheme within which we can
understand the consumptive history of photography in Nepal and Heide's
analysis could have easily made use of some of the insights provided
therein.
(P.Onta is an editor of Studies in Nepali History and Society)