Brug in Lucknow before 1874

This photograph of the Brug in Lucknow was made by Darogha Ubbas Alli, using a process that was then on the cutting edge: light-sensitive chemicals, a glass plate negative, and the patient labor required for a long exposure. Photography in the 19th century was alchemical, but it was also industrial. The materials weren't exactly everyday - purified silver, collodion, and various developing agents. Yet photography also changed everyday life. In contrast to painting and sculpture, photography democratized the image. It made views like this one, of a bridge in Lucknow, available to a much wider public than ever before. Consider the labor involved: from the mining of silver to the patient work of the photographer, and the artisans who printed and mounted the image. The photograph collapses the distinction between craft and industrial production. Looking closely at the material reality of photography helps us to appreciate its profound social impact.