Bourne & Shepherd

Overview

Bourne & Shepherd was a photographic studio established in India in the nineteenth century, with its principal premises in Calcutta (now Kolkata). It is widely regarded as one of the oldest commercial photography firms to have operated in the world, and for several decades it was among the most prominent photographic establishments in British India, producing portraits, topographical views, architectural studies and documentary records of the subcontinent.

Key facts

Background

The firm grew out of the partnership between Samuel Bourne, an English landscape photographer, and Charles Shepherd, a photographer and printer. Bourne travelled to India in the 1860s and undertook several extensive photographic expeditions, most notably in the Himalayas, producing a substantial body of landscape work. Shepherd, who had earlier been associated with photographic ventures in northern India, contributed expertise in studio operations and printing.

The two photographers' joint enterprise, eventually styled Bourne & Shepherd, operated studios in Shimla and Calcutta, with branches at various times elsewhere in the subcontinent. The Calcutta studio became the long-term flagship of the business.

History

Nineteenth century

During its early decades, Bourne & Shepherd built a large catalogue of negatives covering Indian landscapes, monuments, princely courts, military cantonments, ethnographic subjects and urban views. The studio supplied prints to officials of the British Indian administration, military officers, travellers and Indian patrons, and its images circulated widely as albums and individual prints. Samuel Bourne himself returned to England in the early 1870s, but the firm continued under Shepherd and successive proprietors, retaining the Bourne & Shepherd name.

Twentieth century

The studio continued to function through the late colonial period and after Indian independence in 1947, photographing public figures, families and events, and undertaking commercial assignments. Its archive of glass-plate and film negatives accumulated over generations was considered an important visual record of India.

Later years and closure

The Calcutta premises suffered a major fire in the 1990s, which destroyed a significant portion of the studio's historical negatives and records. The business continued operations on a reduced scale thereafter, primarily from its Kolkata location on Esplanade Row, before ceasing commercial operations in the 2010s, ending one of the longest continuous runs of any photographic studio.

Significance

Bourne & Shepherd holds a notable place in the history of photography for several reasons:

• Its longevity, spanning from the early decades of commercial photography to the digital era.
• The scale and geographical breadth of its nineteenth-century output, particularly Samuel Bourne's Himalayan landscapes.
• Its role in shaping the visual record of British India, including topographical surveys, architectural documentation and portraiture of Indian and European elites.
• Its continued operation as a working studio in independent India, where it photographed political leaders, cultural figures and ordinary clients alike.

Surviving prints and negatives associated with the firm are held in museums, libraries and private collections, and are frequently cited in scholarship on the history of photography in South Asia.

Related topics

• Samuel Bourne
• Photography in India
• Kolkata
• British India
• Shimla
• Lala Deen Dayal

References

• Wikidata entity: Q4950212