Dates

• Existence: 1865-    

Biography

The firm of Bourne and Shepherd, which survives to this day in Calcutta under Indian ownership, is one of the oldest established photographic businesses in the world. Although Samuel Bourne is the more famous of the two original partners, and although the firm's early fame rested securely upon his photographic skill and commercial acumen, Charles Shepherd was himself a talented photographer and a number of other figures involved with the firm are names important in the history of the medium in the Indian subcontinent. Unfortunately the history of the shifting commercial alliances and partnerships of the 1860s has been by no means fully clarified, although a broad outline account of the firm's young days can be given.

The firm of Shepherd and Robertson appears to have started trading in Agra in about 1862, moving to Simla in 1864. Little is known of Robertson apart from the negative information that he appears not to have been James Robertson who was the early partner of Felice Beato in the Middle East. At around this time the partnership of Howard, Bourne and Shepherd was formed in Allahabad, but soon moved to Simla, and presumably the firm of Shepherd and Robertson was then dissolved. It is likely that the stock of Shepherd and Robertson was absorbed by Bourne and Shepherd since prints signed by Shepherd and Robertson certainly later appear in the Bourne and Shepherd catalogue. The firm of Howard, Bourne and Shepherd is listed in Thacker's directory for the years 1865-68: after this time Howard no longer appears in the partnership. By 1870, when Bourne left India for good and been replaced by Colin Murray, the firm were operating from Simla and Calcutta and a Bombay branch was opened in about 1876. This was operated by Charles Shepherd until his departure from India around 1879. Over and above his work for Bourne and Shepherd, Charles Shepherd's best known photographic work was the woodburytypes and autotypes used to illustrate Cole's 'The architecture of ancient Delhi' (1872). By the time of Shepherd's departure the firm had established its pre-eminence in the sub-continent and was able to offer the public a series of some 2500 views of architecture (both Indian and European), topography, and portraits of ethnic groups as well as rulers from India, Burma, Ceylon and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Many of their photographs were published in books on India and their prints purchased by generations of residents and tourists, so much so that their surviving work forms perhaps the most detailed visual source for the sub-continent.

Publications:

Bourne, Samuel (c.1864), 'Scenery in the Himalayas and the highlands of Perthshire', [S.l.]: [The Author].

Bourne, Samuel (c.1870), 'India', a topographical photograph album, [S.l.]: [The Author].

Bourne, Samuel (18--), 'Scenes in Kashmir and northern India', [S.l.].

Bourne, Samuel (1863), 'Photography in the East', 'The British Journal of Photography', vol. X, no.193, 1 July, pp.268-270 and no.197, 1 September, pp.345-347.

Bourne, Samuel (1864), 'Ten weeks with the camera in the Himalayas', 'The British Journal of Photography', vol. XI, no. 207, 1 February, pp.50-51 and no. 208, 15 February, pp.69-70.

Bourne, Samuel (1866-1867), 'Narrative of a photographic trip to Kashmir (Cashmere) and adjacent districts', 'The British Journal of Photography', vol. XIII, no. 335, 5 October, no. 337, 19 October, no. 339, 2 November, no. 342, 23 November, no. 344, 7 December, no. 347, 28 December, vol. XIV, no. 348, 4 January, no. 351, 25 January and no. 353, 8 February.

Bourne, Samuel (1869-1870), 'A photographic journey through the higher Himalayas', 'The British Journal of Photography', vol. XVI, no. 499, 26 November, no. 500, 3 December, no. 502, 17 December, no. 503, 24 December, no. 504, 31 December, vol. XVII, no. 506, 14 January, no. 508, 28 January, no. 511, 18 February, no. 513, 4 March, no. 515, 18 March and no. 517, 1 April.

Cole, Henry Hardy (1872), 'The architecture of ancient Delhi', London: Arundel Society for promoting the knowledge of art. [Some of Shepherd's photographs were used to illustrate this book].

Sources:

Falconer, John (2001), 'India: pioneering photographers 1850-1900', London: The British Library.

Thackers directories (1865-1883).

Found in 22 Collections and/or Records: