Photograph by Linnaeus Tripe of a Street View with the Rock in the Distance, Trichinopoly, Madras, 1858.

A street view with the dome of the rock in the distance, Trichinopoly.

Given by Dr Hunter, Madras School of Art, 1862

Published as Plate 7 in Tripe's album, "Photographic Views of Trichinopoloy", produced in an edition of 35 copies for the Government of Madras Presidency in 1859-60.

Linnaeus Tripe was born in Devon in 1822 and served with the East India Company Army from 1839 before he became captain in 1856. His first major photographic work was in Burma in 1855, and in 1856 to 1860 he was offically appointed Government Photographer for the Madras Presidency. Tripe was one of the earliest pioneers of nineteenth century landscape and architectural photography in India, and during this period he produced a series of publications including "Photographic Views of Trichinopoloy" and "Photographs of Madura" ca. 1858. He returned to England on leave from the army in 1873 and died in Plymouth in 1902.

Captain Tripe of the 12th Madras Native Infantry was appointed by Dr Alexander Hunter, founder of the Madras School of Industrial Arts, to photograph ‘edifices, sculptures and inscriptions of much beauty or interest both historical and artistic’. This image shows an important Hindu site in the distance, while inadvertently recording the ghostly impressions of those who passed by during the exposure.

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