6 Photography VEINS OF INFLUENCE by Shalini Amerasinghe Ganendra P


hotography has been significant in my life from its beginning. My varying relationships with


the lens, whether as a subject, creator, curator or collector, have informed different approaches to and engagement with the image. Myriads of photographs,


loose or in albums, populate my living and memory spaces. Te book Veins of Influence and the ideas that develop in it, including the construct of the ‘veins of influence’ analysis, have been a lifetime in the making enriched by this lifetime of seeing. It was my lived experiences with


the image that activated my consideration of what the influences of photographs might be on us, generally, as we take on roles – as viewers, models,


individuals and community. And though the experience of the image may ultimately be a subjective one, there can also be shared or collective impressions that evolve from it. No doubt, in these times, we are inundated with images,


including


through the various forms of media and social networks. But just think, what was the impact of those early photographs, at the time they were first in circulation? What were the impressions they made on viewers? What were the influences that affected the photographer in his/her image capture, and through to the photograph’s presentation. Tese and other questions percolated in my thinking as I habitually gazed on our own family wall of photographs that show six generations. What influence did those images have on my own children as they navigated their place in the world? Tat question has often been discussed around the dinner table. Given these personal and collective


constructs, photographs can powerfully foster visual belonging to (or alienation from) places, people and periods that are distinct from our own. In these instances, photographs are more than mere documenters of memory and become creators of memories – mirages inspired by the image. I have, for example,


visual recollections of


visiting Nuwara Eliya in Sri Lanka with my maternal grandmother, as a very young child. Te scenery and the activities that I see in my memory mirror the four black and white photographs


of that visit. Te


photographer is unknown. Tese images have lived independently for decades on our family picture wall. Have those photographs created my memories or do my memories inform


Fig 1 Kandy Lake by Joseph Lawton, Jermyn Album, Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford


those photographs? Perhaps it is a little bit of both. In 2019, providence knocked in


the form of a long-time acquaintance, a professor at Oxford University, who offered me the opportunity to review a neglected, I dare say, almost unwanted, album that had found its way to the Pitt Rivers Museum. During the course of that initial Visiting Fellowship, I discovered that this


well-kept collection, which


includes over 50 photographs and some drawings, belonged to the celebrated 19th-century Bishop of Colombo, Hugh Jermyn (fig 1). Te Jermyn Album offered other discoveries,


interesting including


intersections with influencers of his time, such as the Victorian artist and grande dame, Constance Gordon Cummings (the author of Two Happy Years in Ceylon, 1892). As a result of this initial investigation, I recognised that a collection could have inter-disciplinary stories to tell that were worth listening to. Hence, I knew that I had to develop a broader narrative


as it related to early


photographs, by looking at more early collections. Over the course of three years, I


looked at thousands of photographs in numerous archives in the UK and Sri Lanka. I spent wonderful hours looking,


reviewing, thinking and


rethinking – an almost meditative dynamic (fine-tuned during long morning walks), that would eventually develop as the analytical construct of ‘veins of influence’. After those intense years of viewing, I also needed to get stronger reading glasses. Te timing was also opportune in of


light sentiments


the mostly on


stories disparaging colonialism and


empire. I, however, wanted to depart from this tired didactic and explore a new approach – one that offered human


and made the


photograph a narrator. Sri Lanka offered an ideal case study because the images of Sri Lanka are less familiar to most (than say images from the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ India, depicting maharajahs decked in jewels). Tat novelty of the ‘Ceylon view’, as it were, made this exercise more compelling. It was important to contextualise


the images, which is what I do through the starting explanation of Sri Lanka’s colonial history. I then incorporate into those period dynamics, colonial literature on Ceylon in conjunction with the history of photography. Tis broader understanding of what was happening at in the 19th century, also informed my ‘reading’ of the various collectors possible collecting dynamics. My focus has been on learning about these collections, the people who collected them,


the


contents of the images, and what stories they continue to tell. I want readers to share in the novel and dynamic discoveries that unfolded as I ‘read’ the photographs. Te fact that most, if not all, of


Fig 2 Rock Arch Railway Incline, Bacchante Tour, Royal Collection ASIAN ART | WINTER 2023 | #AsianArtPaper | asianartnewspaper |


these collections (other than Julia Margaret Cameron’s work, 1815- 1879) were previously unstudied and unpublished, made this project even more appealing. Photographs featured are from the: Royal Collection Trust; Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford; Royal Commonwealth Society, Cambridge University Library; Royal Asiatic Society of Great


asianartnewspaper |


Britain and Ireland; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Rothschild Foundation Archives. In addition to these UK collections, the publication includes early photographs from important Sri Lankan families and period publications. Te collections are mainly those of identified


‘influencers’ of the time and the photographs are by commercial, or art and hobbyist photographers. Images from the Royal Collection


come from the albums of the Royal Tours and other royal travels. Some of these Royal visits, in their goal to reinforce Queen Victoria’s placement


(soon to become the Empress of India), were essentially diplomatic. We see the different focuses in each collection and different degrees of official imaging and collecting juxtaposed


against whether framed, personal collectors,


selections. For example, the Prince of Wales’ 1875 tour album, royally bound and in pristine condition shows a selection of images that highlight views from his Royal Tour. In contrast, the Princes’ Albert Victor and George’s Bacchante Tour album, was falling to bits in some sections, and I needed the help of a gloved archivist to turn the pages. Te state of that album indicates frequent viewing – which is a joy for an album. Ten we move to the official and personal albums of Queen Mary. Her personal album shows only eight photographs of her visit to Ceylon in 1902, in contrast to the official album which shows 56 commercial studio images. Were the eight


images Mary picked for her


personal pages her favourite? Did they refer to a fond memory. Tese are the sorts of questions that guided my research.


Interestingly, related


materials such as writings in that album and diaries from that trip opened the door to connecting with local Sri Lankan families mentioned in them. In this way, I explored further how the photograph can connect points in history and place through people (fig 2). Te Royal Asiatic Society of Great


Britain and Ireland (RAS) offered three relevant collections, which show a number of archaeological sites, subject matter that the Royal Collections did not have. Two of the collections are attributed to Sir George


Leveson-Gower and


Leonard Shoobridge, who visited Ceylon together, but neither, incidentally, are recorded as members


Fig 3 Lake and Cabbage Palms, Kandy, Gower Album, Royal Asiatic Society


Fig 4 Privy Council, Gandara, 1900, Bell Collection, Royal Asiatic Society Asian Art Newspaper


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