Bhattia turban folders at work--Photographer: Narayen, Shivashanker Medium: Photographic print Date: 1873

hotograph of turban folders at work in India, taken by Shivashanker Narayen in c. 1873, from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections. This image, of a group of workers folding turbans on wooden model heads, was probably shown at the Vienna Universal Exhibition of the same year. After photography was introduced into India in the 1840s it rapidly grew in popularity, particularly as a means to record the vast diversity of people and their dress, manners, trades, customs and religions. The first official attempt to create a comprehensive record of Indian types was the 'The People of India'; an ethnographical survey edited by J.F.Watson and John William Kaye, and published in eight volumes from 1868 to1875.