Greetings from Darjeeling
One can only marvel at the early "Greetings from" postcard, the way five photographs are woven into one image with the help of plant motifs, in this case tree branches but often palm trees for Indian images.
Postcard
Punjab Rose
An impressive studio shot that lays bare the artifice used to make these images work: the painted backdrop with visible border, the matching design shoes and carpet, the desk or piano the woman's arm is resting on, surrounded by an oval frame common
Singhalese ayah (Nurse Maid)
Plate & Co. in Colombo dominated the postcard trade on the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and sold half a million postcards in 1907 alone, an enormous sum for a single publisher.
Master Nandram
A hand-tinted real photography by an exceptional filmi postcard publisher in Sukkur, Sindh. The actor Nandram starred in the film Master Stroke (1927) which this postcard may celebrate, else the "Master" may simply be his title.
The Huzuri Bagh, Lahore
A beautiful example by one of the premiere Lahore coloured postcard publishers, Peshawar-based D.C. Mehra and Sons.
Expecting
A rare image of a pregnant woman (or is she just waiting?), posing in a studio, with an abundance of real vegetation surrounding her.
Palms, Chepauk, Madras
A moody image in sepia of palm trees in the Chepauk district of Chennai.
[Verso] “Madras. 27.12.13. On the run again this time Madras Bombay Karachi Lahore Calcutta Rangoon.
An Indian Actress
A startling image of an Indian actress, carrying a bow in one hand, perhaps from the play she is acting in. But is it a she?
Lucknow Modjibaman
This view of the Aasafi Mosque in Lucknow was published by J. Serravallo in Trieste, Italy, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Native Cafe in the Camp
Jankidas, a Karachi photographer and major postcard publisher, worked largely for British troops in the cantonment area, where he had his studio and was known as "Johnny." Nonetheless, he also turns out to have been a photographer of the Independence
