Side Colonnade in the Muroothappa Sarvacar Mundapam 1858

Linnaeus Tripe captured this albumen silver print of the Side Colonnade in the Muroothappa Sarvacar Mundapam during his time as the official photographer for the Madras government in India. Born in Devonport, England, Tripe’s lens offers us more than just architectural documentation; it is a glimpse into the complex relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. As a British photographer, Tripe occupied a unique position, observing and interpreting a culture vastly different from his own. The photograph, with its play of light and shadow on intricately carved pillars, evokes a sense of both reverence and distance. What does it mean to frame a sacred space through the lens of a colonial power? How does the act of photographing transform a place of worship into an object of study, a specimen of the ‘exotic’ East? It invites us to consider the power dynamics inherent in the act of seeing and being seen.