Baron Alexis de la Grange (1825-1917)

HINDU TEMPLE, MIRZAPUR, c.1850. Salt print from a waxed paper negative, mounted on publisher's card (Blanquart-Evrard), image size 210 x 170, card size 415 x 322mm, with printed title, credit and the photographer's blindstamp in lower card margin.

Alexis de La Grange’s photographs are some of the earliest surviving images to come out from India in the 19th century. Though a former naval artillery officer, de la Grange travelded to India in a personal capacity in 1849, after finishing his military service. During his two-tyear trip around south and southeast Asia, he made at least 63 negatives, many which pre-date many images made by British photographers who worked in a military capacity. The present plate is number 22 from Blanquart-Evrard’s first published collection L’Album Photographique de l’Artiste et de l’Amateur (1851).