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Profile by Samyuktha PC

In 1839, the flashes of photography entered India with a bang of rapid changes. By 1850s a variety of photographic societies, and studios had sprung up. But, hardly anyone but the die-hard photography enthusiast has heard of India’s master photographer, Lala Deen Dayal. Though, even the camera reigned as a colonising tool, Indians took it all up with great energy, and converted it as a crucial element of nationalism. The camera also became the identity of a modern Indian family.

Lala Deen Dayal (1844-1905) used his lens to show us the “ways of seeing” back in Colonial India, of the British and the nationalist. This was time before automatic cameras, and definitely much before the color-correcting digital formats of the present day. But, he picked up a lens in 1874 to compete with none other than the art of painting and printing. The dark was still only lit with the gas lamps, but he dropped civil engineering to climb the stairs of photography. This made him a legend.

Sir Henry Daly, the Agent to the Governor General for Central India, was Dayal’s key mentor. He assigned Dayal the task of photographing the royal visit of the Prince of Wales in 1875. After this, it was steep climb to have eighty nine photographs of palaces, forts and temples in Gwalior, Khajuraho, Rewa and Sanchi printed in Sir Lepel Griffin’s Famous Monuments of Central India (London 1886).

In 1893, his portraiture, architectural photography, images of hookah bearers, royal palaces, whiskered nobility, and historic events, received many accolades. As the face of India, captured within frames, he was given a special award at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. By then, he had crafted a niche for himself in a studio at Secunderabad. His firm, Raja Deen Dayal & Sons, was granted a Royal Warrant by Queen Victoria, 1897. And by the end of the century, they had planted flourishing studios in Bombay, Hyderabad, Indore, and Secunderabad with clientele from the cream of the society.

However, success what not all that developed in his life and art. Rather early in life, both his sons – Dharamchand and Dhyanchand – succumbed to death. With his own health failing, managing studios was a major task. And he himself passed away in 1905, followed in a couple of months by his wife.

The website presents more than the history of his photography, clearly elucidating the techniques he used professionally. For instance, Zenana Photography was specially arranged to provide privacy for purdah women, attended by a lady operator, retaining not a single print or copy in the establishment, and even destroy every negative.

But, we still have pieces of his life left to us, thanks to AmiChand Deen Dayal, the youngest grandson of the legend, who dedicated 65 years of service to photography. He preserved all of Dayal’s wonders. And now, his wonders have been brought to the web by his great granddaughter Hemalata Jain. The whole family continues the serves the art of history and photography. The Permanent Platino type produces a picture finer than any engraving, far superior to the ordinary silver, softer in tone and absolutely permanent. Opals is the process of producing photographic pictures on the finest white china. Such techniques, though primitive, are so refined and understanding of the culture they live in. Their catalogue even guides their clients on the ways of sitting, posing, and dressing for photographs.

Visit his website for more information, and grab the novel Deen Dayal stamp, which was issued in November 11, 2006. The website actually illustrates his historical context in totality, leaving alone the glory that he duly deserves.