Cleveland Museum of Art

South Façade of the Quadrangle of the Nayak Darbar Hall, Thanjavur

Date

1858

Medium

albumenized salt print

Culture

England, 19th century

Department

Photography

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Early box cameras had no shutter; the photographer just removed and replaced the lens cap, guessing at how long to leave it off. Linnaeus Tripe’s mastery of light and exposure here is incredible. The print allows us to read the decoration that is in shadow as well as that in full sunlight. This assembly hall is an important example of the Islamic influences brought by the Nayaks to South Indian architecture in the 1600s.

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