About
34 itemsIndian Exceptionalism Photograph Collection
Indian Exceptionalism is an attempt to collect and share underappreciated media from Indian history. Especially those pieces of media that we consider to be from significant moments in our shared history. We want to collect media that is not just immediately striking to the eyes, but also leaves behind an impression. We hope to catalogue, contextualize and preserve these images in an accessible digital format.
Eventually we hope to collect more than just images and work towards archiving all forms of media, from audio to video to stories.
Each item carries a note. Where the notes state facts, those facts are checked and cited. Where the date, the place, the author or anything else cannot be established reliably, we say so. Many of the notes also carry personal commentary, anything from thoughts about the photograph to random reflections, because in the end this is a personal project.
Arrangement
There are two ways through the collection, and they answer different questions.
Browsing is by series. Every photograph belongs to a broad thematic series, and each series runs in date order. If you want the whole collection in one sequence instead, the chronology is every item by date, and All is every frame on a single page.
Looking something up runs on the other axis, where a photograph can carry any number of subjects and places. Subjects nest, and often contain other subjects under them. Places do not nest: Thumba does not sit inside Kerala, for example, because a photograph naming both is naming two facts, not a hierarchy (and it is easier this way, honestly).
Items are identified by an accession number, ie-0004 and so on, allocated in the order photographs were added and never reused. It is not a position in a sequence, so the number an item is given is the number it keeps.
Rights and reuse
Nothing here is owned by this site and nothing here makes money. There is no advertising, no sponsorship, no subscription and nothing for sale. The photographs belong to the photographers, agencies, publications and institutions named on each record, and they are reproduced here for study and commentary. This is a purely personal exercise in the public domain.
Every item names its photographer, agency or publication as far as these are known and links to the source where one exists: which is where to go for the original file and for whatever the rights holder says about reuse. That is the authority; this is not. The statement above is descriptive, not a legal determination. If you hold rights in a photograph here, write and say which, and it will be taken down or credited as you ask. We reproduce them out of appreciation for the works, and are happy to comply with any such request as soon as we can.
No original file is published. What you see are derivatives made at build time — AVIF and WebP, quality 55, each photograph at two widths and never enlarged past the source. The largest thing this site will hand over is a study copy on each record: a re-encoded JPEG at quality 82, capped at 1800 pixels wide and, again, never upscaled. A photograph smaller than that is offered at its own size rather than blown up to meet the cap. For anything better, go to the source. Some images are altered or enhanced to suit being shown on a screen.
Contact
Corrections are the most useful thing you can send: a misattribution, a date that cannot be right, a caption that belongs to a different frame. So is a photograph that belongs here. Help, suggestions and input of any other kind are welcome too. Feel free to write, or to reach us through Instagram DMs for a faster reply.