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Photos of the Gods: The Printed Image and Political Struggle in India
Contributor(s): Pinney, Christopher (Author)

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 ISBN: 1861891849     ISBN-13: 9781861891846
Publisher: Reaktion Books
OUR PRICE: $30.45  

Binding Type: Paperback
Published: February 2004
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Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks

Annotation: Mass-produced images have long been produced and used in India by religious and nationalist movements - the emergence of Indian-run chromolithograph presses in the late 1870s initiated a vast outpouring that have come to dominate many of India's public and domestic spaces.
Drawing on years of archival research, interviews with artists and publishers, and the ethnographic study of their rural consumers, Christopher Pinney traces the intimate connections between the production and consumption of these images and the struggle against colonial rule. The detailed output of individual presses and artists is set against the intensification of the nationalist struggle, the constraints imposed by colonial state censorship, and fifty years of Indian independence. The reader is introduced to artists who trained within colonial art schools, others whose skills reflect their membership of traditional painting castes, and yet others who are self-taught former sign painters.
"Photos of the Gods" is the first comprehensive history of India's popular visual culture. Combining anthropology, political and cultural history, and the study of aesthetic systems, and using many intriguing and unfamiliar images, the book shows that the current predicament of India cannot be understood without taking into account this complex, fascinating, and until now virtually unseen, visual history.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- History | Asia - General
- Art
Dewey: 320.095
Physical Information: 0.4" H x 7.4" W x 9.7" L (1.00 lbs) 239 pages
Themes:
- Cultural Region - Asian
Features: Bibliography, Illustrated, Price on Product
Review Citations: Choice 09/01/2004 pg. 86
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
Mass-produced images have long been produced and used in India by religious and nationalist movements - the emergence of Indian-run chromolithograph presses in the late 1870s initiated a vast outpouring that have come to dominate many of India's public and domestic spaces.

Drawing on years of archival research, interviews with artists and publishers, and the ethnographic study of their rural consumers, Christopher Pinney traces the intimate connections between the production and consumption of these images and the struggle against colonial rule. The detailed output of individual presses and artists is set against the intensification of the nationalist struggle, the constraints imposed by colonial state censorship, and fifty years of Indian independence. The reader is introduced to artists who trained within colonial art schools, others whose skills reflect their membership of traditional painting castes, and yet others who are self-taught former sign painters.

Photos of the Gods is the first comprehensive history of India's popular visual culture. Combining anthropology, political and cultural history, and the study of aesthetic systems, and using many intriguing and unfamiliar images, the book shows that the current predicament of India cannot be understood without taking into account this complex, fascinating, and until now virtually unseen, visual history.

Contributor Bio(s): Pinney, Christopher: - Christopher Pinney is professor of anthropology and visual culture at University College London. He has held positions at the Australian National University, the University of Chicago, the University of Cape Town, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Northwestern University.
 
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