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How photography helped the British empire classify India

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Female dancers or nautch girls, early 20th Century. The photograph was taken by Edward Taurines, one of the first European photographers with a studio in Bombay (now Mumbai) which specialised in photographs showcasing the city for a Western audience. [BBC]

In the second half of the 19th Century, photography became one of the British Empire’s most persuasive instruments for knowing – and classifying – India.

A new exhibition – called Typecasting: Photographing the Peoples of India, 1855-1920, and organised by DAG, the Delhi-based art gallery – brings together nearly 200 rare photographs from a period when the camera was deployed to classify communities, fix identities and make India’s complex social differences legible to the colonial government.

Spanning 65 years, the exhibition maps an expansive human geography: from Lepcha and Bhutia communities in the north-east to Afridis in the north-west; from Todas in the Nilgiris to Parsi and Gujarati elites in western India.

It also turns its gaze to those assigned to the lower rungs of the colonial social order – dancing girls, agricultural labourers, barbers and snake charmers.

These images did not merely document India’s diversity; they actively shaped it, translating fluid, lived realities into apparently stable and knowable “types”.

Curated by historian Sudeshna Guha, the exhibition centres on folios from The People of India, the influential eight-volume photographic survey published between 1868 and 1875. From this core, it expands outward to include albumen and silver-gelatin prints by photographers such as Samuel Bourne, Lala Deen Dayal, John Burke and the studio Shepherd & Robertson – practitioners whose images helped define the visual language of that time.

“Taken together, this material tells the history of ethnographic photography and its effect on the British administration and the Indian population, in a project which in size and depth has never before been seen in India,” says Ashish Anand, CEO of DAG.

Here’s a selection of images from the exhibition:

DAG Five Indian women wearing saris stand outside a modest house in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1890, balancing neatly stacked cow dung cakes on their heads while additional rounds lie arranged on the ground beside them.
Women carrying cow dung cakes, Bombay, 1890, by Edward Taurines. Here, the women are presented in service to the household, engaged in domestic tasks typically performed within the home – but repositioned outdoors for the camera.[BBC]
DAG An Indian woman in a sari poses for a photograph taken by Felix Morin, published in 1890.
Indian woman, photographed by Felix Morin, 1890. Women feature prominently in the photographs at the show. This carefully composed colonial-era portrait captures both the ethnographic gaze of the period and the formal elegance of early photography. [BBC]
DAG Four Afghan tribesmen, armed with guns and dressed in traditional attire, photographed in 1862. The group - Afridis from the Khyber Pass near Peshawar - stand posed before the camera.
This 1862 photograph – ‘Group of Afridis from the Khyber Pass’ taken by Charles Shepherd – shows men from a Pathan tribe the British described as “fiercely independent” found along the Afghan border.[BBC]
DAG A street barber trims a man’s hair in a small vacant space in India. Both wear traditional dress - a sarong-type dress. A turban lies near a man. The photograph was taken by an unidentified photographer.
A street barber, by an unidentified photographer. Such images frequently captured street trades and everyday performances, turning ordinary labour into ethnographic subjects. [BBC]
DAG Two high caste Hindu women in traditional saris pose on the steps of a house in Bombay in 1855
William Johnson, a founding member of the Photographic Society of Bombay, published this image titled ‘Brahmani Ladies’ in the 1857 issue of The Indian Amateur’s Photographic Album. The accompanying text named the two women, describing them as young and intelligent, and noted that they were in Bombay – with their father’s encouragement and their husbands’ support – to study English at a mission school.[BBC]
DAG Five  men of India's Parsee community, dressed in traditional attire and distinctive headgear, sit on chairs in a garden, with a colonial-style building rising behind them.
A group of Parsis, possibly photographed by William Johnson, sit before a colonial bungalow – asserting their distinct identity through clothing and bearing, while occupying a colonial architectural world. [BBC]
DAG Four men and women belonging to north eastern India's Bhutia community pose in their traditional attire in this picture taken in 1890.
A group of young Bhutias, 1890. The volume includes photographs of people from Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet – regions beyond the British rule. The Lepchas, Bhutias and Tibetans were photographed by Benjamin Simpson. [BBC]
DAG Eight Indian musicians pose outside a cave in India's Maharashtra, holding their traditional drums and pipes in this undated photograph.
Musicians at ancient Buddhist rock-cut shrines in Maharashtra, photographed by Charles Scott, undated.[BBC]
DAG A husband, wife and daughter from India pose at an unidentified location in Singapore in the late 19th century, dressed in their traditional attire.
An Indian family in Singapore, late 19th Century. Some images depict people from the Malay Peninsula, Singapore and Chittagong in Bangladesh.[BBC]

[BBC]



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USA midfielder sues doctors after on-pitch cardiac arrest

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Savannah DeMelo collapsed during a league match between Racing Louisville and Seattle Reign [BBC]

United States women’s national team player Savannah DeMelo is suing a hospital and two doctors after she suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch last year.

Midfielder DeMelo, who has seven senior caps for the USA, has filed a lawsuit against University of Louisville Health (UofL Health) for negligence.

The 28-year-old, who plays for Racing Louisville, collapsed in the first half of a National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) match on 14 September 2025.

According to documents seen by BBC Sport, the case was filed on Tuesday morning with Jefferson Circuit Court in Kentucky, where her club is based – a year and a day after her on-field collapse.

DeMelo’s filing claims UofL Health and two doctors, Dr Sarabjeet Suri and Dr Jennifer Daily, “failed to act as a reasonably prudent and competent medical practice, and such negligence was a substantial factor in causing DeMelo to suffer severe physical injuries, including, but not limited to, her cardiac arrest”.

Dr Daily, according to her online UofL biography, is Racing Louisville’s chief medical officer. The lawsuit states DeMelo was under the care of Dr Daily from January 2024 to July 2026.

It states that in March 2025, Dr Daily referred DeMelo to Dr Suri for “evaluation and treatment” after she had been complaining of chest pain, dizziness and shortness of air; Dr Suri obtained a history, performed a physical examination and ordered diagnostic tests.

Nearly six months later, DeMelo suffered the cardiac arrest.

“She was subsequently diagnosed and treated for ventricular tachycardia [an abnormal heart rhythm],” the suit states.

DeMelo, who has spent her entire professional career with Racing Louisville, has not played since her collapse.

In a post to her instagram page on Tuesday, De Melo – who was picked in the USA squad for the 2023 Women’s World Cup and started their first two games – marked the anniversary of the incident.

“A year ago today, while playing soccer, I collapsed due to an undiagnosed cardiac arrhythmia, that caused me to go into cardiac arrest,” she wrote.

“I respect and appreciate the privacy everyone has met me with while going through everything I have this year. I’ll never be able to fully put into words how emotionally hard this year has been. There has been a lot of uncertainty and emotions intertwined with it all.”

[BBC]

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Death toll from Philippines ferry fire rises to 76, with more still missing

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The ferry caught fire near tourist hotspot Coron on Wednesday [BBC]

The Philippine Coast Guard says it has recovered 41 bodies from the wreckage of a ferry that caught fire this week, bringing the total death toll to 76.

More than 130 people were on board the MV June Aster when the blaze erupted on Wednesday as it neared its destination at the tourist hotspot of Coron, after departing from Manila.

The coast guard said on Saturday the number of survivors remained 43, with many receiving treatment in hospital, but 13 people remain unaccounted for.

Recovery of bodies had been hampered due to toxic fumes and lingering heat, which meant authorities were unable to board until Friday.

Geronimo Tuvilla, an official for the Philippine Coast Guard, said the priority was identifying victims and determining the cause of the blaze.

Kristine Ablana, a tourism official in Coron, said relatives were being asked to help identify family members through personal items and DNA testing.

“Once someone is able to verify that this photo or these belongings are indeed those of their relative, they will be asked to provide a DNA sample,” she said.

Coast Guard spokesperson Commodore Noemie Cayabyab said the fire began in a cargo hold before spreading.

She said survivors had described hearing a loud explosion, “the appearance of smoke and then fire. It spread very quickly”. She added that those who had made it off the ship did not have time to put on lifejackets.

A survivor who was hauled to safety on a rescue boat told the BBC he had heard frantic cries onboard when the fire erupted, and was trampled by panicked people as he tried to escape.

The ferry, built in 2002, held valid safety certificates and passed an enforcement inspection in March, but investigators are looking into potential manifest discrepancies, cargo loading integrity, and crew emergency response protocols, the Palawan Daily reported.

The vessel was carrying 117 passengers and 17 crew members.

Atienza Interisland Ferries, the vessel’s operator, has pledged full co-operation with the inquiry.

[BBC]

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Princess Diana’s ‘revenge dress’ goes up for auction on 9th December

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[pic BBC]

A dress worn by Princess Diana to a party in London hours after a documentary was televised in which the then-Prince Charles admitted to committing adultery during their marriage is going up for auction.

Her dramatic arrival at the Serpentine Gallery in 1994 in a custom-made black silk evening dress by designer Christina Stambolian became an iconic pop-culture moment.

The media dubbed her outfit the “revenge dress”.

Auction house Sotheby’s expects the dress to sell for up to £220,000 ($300,000) when it goes under the hammer on 9 December.

A press release from Sotheby’s said it is the first time the dress has been offered at auction since 1997, when the late princess sold 79 of her dresses to raise money for charities.

Morgane Halimi, Sotheby’s Global Head of Handbags and Fashion, said in a statement that Princess Diana “understood instinctively” that fashion can be a language in its own right.

“On her own terms, Princess Diana turned the dress into one of the most powerful messages she ever made, during one of the most scrutinised and emotionally charged episodes of her life,” Halimi said.

“She walked into a moment in which so much of her story was being told for her and, through what she chose to wear, reclaimed the narrative for herself.”

Martin Keene/PA Wire Princess Diana arriving at the Serpentine Gallery wearing a dress designed by Christina Stambolian dress. The famous "revenge dress" worn worn by Diana during a Vanity Fair fundraising dinner at the Serpentine Gallery in London, on the same night her then-husband the Prince of Wales publicly admitted his infidelity on national television
[BBC]

According to Sotheby’s, Anna Harvey, her stylist at the time, said Diana “wanted to look a million dollars”.

The princess made a last-minute wardrobe change for the fundraising dinner and chose the strapless evening dress by the Greek designer Christina Stambolian – which she accessorised with a royal jewel, a black clutch and black heels.

The vintage Jaguar XJ40 car that Diana arrived in at the event was sold at auction earlier this year for £66,250.

The revenge dress is expected to fetch a considerably higher price.

If it does, it will not be the first time an item from the princess’s wardrobe has sold for a significant sum.

Princess Diana’s sweater featuring a black sheep among rows of white ones was sold for £920,000 at an auction by Sotheby’s in New York in 2023.

[BBC]

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