Perumal Temple Vimana from Corner of Court, Madurai
Medium
albumen print from a waxed paper negative
Dimensions
image: 34.2 × 26.8 cm · mounted: 57.2 × 43.6 cm
Classification
Photograph
Department
Photography
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
2020.209
Tags
male
About this artwork
Although the temple would have been crowded with worshippers, Tripe shows us empty spaces. His paper negatives and primitive lens required long exposures, even in the bright sunlight of India—too long to record an individual in motion. Tripe, photographing for the colonial government, may also have used his official status to have the temple cleared of visitors so he could obtain unobstructed views of the architecture.