Not currently on display at the V&A

The Sutlej Valley from Rogi

Photograph
1863 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In 1863 Samuel Bourne (1834-1912) arrived in India. He had left his job as a Nottingham bank clerk in order to develop a new career as a photographer. Bourne undertook three treks to Kashmir and the western Himalayas in 1863, 1864 and 1866, during which he photographed his surroundings extensively. His first trip began in July 1863 following a well-established route going east from Simla, towards the India-Tibet border, and into the Sutlej Valley below the Himalayan mountains.

Throughout his travels Bourne wrote about his first impressions of the places he visited and these writings were published in the British Journal of Photography. Of the Sutlej River, he noted: “I decided to leave them for a time and explore the banks of the Sutlej. I crossed the river by a jhula bridge – one of those singular inventions which belongs to the natives of India. It consists of six or seven ropes stretched across the river, along which slides a sort of rope chair, in which you place yourself, and are then pulled across from the opposite side… The Sutlej here flows either through one of those natural channels which nature seems to have provided for the course of great river, or in the lapse of ages – who shall say how many – it has worn for itself a remarkable passage through these giant hills. It is here almost a misnomer to speak of the “banks” of the Sutlej, since while the mountains do occasionally slope down more or less gradually to the river, it is far more common to find these rocks rising perpendicularly from the water’s edge. In some places these precipitous walls are so stupendous as to stagger both the sense and imagination. In the case of the Rogee Cliffs, three miles from Cheenee, they are found rising to the enormous height of 5,000 feet, so that if an unfortunate traveller, venturing on the precarious pathway which runs along the face of the cliffs just below the top, should miss his footing, or the planks should chance to give way (a circumstance more probable than otherwise), he would have nearly a mile to fall before his body in scattered fragments found a resting-place in the river below. With scenery like this it is very difficult to deal with the camera: it is altogether too gigantic and stupendous to be brought within the limits imposed on photography.” Bourne, S, Ten Weeks with the Camera in the Himalayas, The British Journal of Photography, 1 February 1864, pp.50-51

Towards the end of the 1860s, Bourne established a partnership with fellow photographer and Englishman Charles Shepherd (fl. 1858-1878) and in the space of a few years Bourne & Shepherd became the pre-eminent photographic firm in India. By the end of 1870 they had three branches, in Simla, Calcutta and Bombay.

Samuel Bourne’s ability to combine technical skill and artistic vision has led to him being recognised today as one of the most outstanding photographers working in India in the nineteenth century.


Object details

Category
Object type
Titles
  • The Sutlej Valley from Rogi (assigned by artist)
  • Rogi: Sutlej Valley (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print from wet collodion negative
Brief description
Photograph, 'The Sutlej Valley from Rogi', albumen print, Samuel Bourne, India, 1860s
Physical description
Photograph showing a path around a steep cliff. The cliff is on the right hand side and two figures can be seen at the far end of it. Shadows are cast on the path in the foreground.
Dimensions
  • Photograph height: 23.6cm
  • Photograph width: 29.3cm
  • Mount height: 26.5cm
  • Mount width: 32.7cm
Marks and inscriptions
Signature and negative number in bottom right hand corner.
Object history
This photograph was initially part of the photographic collection held in the National Art Library. The markings on the mount are an indication of the history of the object, its movement through the museum and the way it is categorised. The mount is white. Bottom Left: some handwritten text.
Production
The negative was made in 1863. This print was made before March 1867.
Place depicted
Summary
In 1863 Samuel Bourne (1834-1912) arrived in India. He had left his job as a Nottingham bank clerk in order to develop a new career as a photographer. Bourne undertook three treks to Kashmir and the western Himalayas in 1863, 1864 and 1866, during which he photographed his surroundings extensively. His first trip began in July 1863 following a well-established route going east from Simla, towards the India-Tibet border, and into the Sutlej Valley below the Himalayan mountains.

Throughout his travels Bourne wrote about his first impressions of the places he visited and these writings were published in the British Journal of Photography. Of the Sutlej River, he noted: “I decided to leave them for a time and explore the banks of the Sutlej. I crossed the river by a jhula bridge – one of those singular inventions which belongs to the natives of India. It consists of six or seven ropes stretched across the river, along which slides a sort of rope chair, in which you place yourself, and are then pulled across from the opposite side… The Sutlej here flows either through one of those natural channels which nature seems to have provided for the course of great river, or in the lapse of ages – who shall say how many – it has worn for itself a remarkable passage through these giant hills. It is here almost a misnomer to speak of the “banks” of the Sutlej, since while the mountains do occasionally slope down more or less gradually to the river, it is far more common to find these rocks rising perpendicularly from the water’s edge. In some places these precipitous walls are so stupendous as to stagger both the sense and imagination. In the case of the Rogee Cliffs, three miles from Cheenee, they are found rising to the enormous height of 5,000 feet, so that if an unfortunate traveller, venturing on the precarious pathway which runs along the face of the cliffs just below the top, should miss his footing, or the planks should chance to give way (a circumstance more probable than otherwise), he would have nearly a mile to fall before his body in scattered fragments found a resting-place in the river below. With scenery like this it is very difficult to deal with the camera: it is altogether too gigantic and stupendous to be brought within the limits imposed on photography.” Bourne, S, Ten Weeks with the Camera in the Himalayas, The British Journal of Photography, 1 February 1864, pp.50-51

Towards the end of the 1860s, Bourne established a partnership with fellow photographer and Englishman Charles Shepherd (fl. 1858-1878) and in the space of a few years Bourne & Shepherd became the pre-eminent photographic firm in India. By the end of 1870 they had three branches, in Simla, Calcutta and Bombay.

Samuel Bourne’s ability to combine technical skill and artistic vision has led to him being recognised today as one of the most outstanding photographers working in India in the nineteenth century.
Other number
1508 - Negative number
Collection
Accession number
52897

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Record createdJanuary 6, 2017
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