Thanks to the invention of photography at the beginning of the 19th century, a new profession was born: that of the military photographer. One of the first and most famous military photographers was undoubtedly Willoughby Wallace Hooper. Born in England, Hooper is famous for his photographs of ethnic groups, military and domestic scenes from 1860.At the age of sixteen, Hooper served as a secretary at East India House (the London headquarters of the East India Company). After a few years, he joined the British Army, where he first encountered the camera and photography. Fascinated by photography, Hooper took to the task with great enthusiasm and, as a self-taught photographer, learned everything necessary to become an official military photographer. When he came of age, he eventually became a photographer for the British Army, with the task of making ethnographic photographs in the central provinces of British India and, a few years later, in British Burma.
As for the photographic production of Willoughby Wallace Hooper, we remember all the photos related to the British military operations in India and Burma, but especially the hundreds of photos portraying the local population. One of Hooper's most famous collections was undoubtedly the "Tiger Shooting" collection, which he sold to hunters as evidence and souvenirs of hunting trips and published in 1887 as "Lantern readings: tiger shooting in India." Hooper is also very famous for his collection of photographs taken in the late 1880s of the Indian population affected by the famine in Madras. However, these photographs sparked a fierce controversy as Hooper was accused of not helping the needy on the ground. In the following years, another collection was published under the title "Burma", in which more than a hundred photographs depict the British expedition, various mishaps during the expedition, the embarkation in Madras and the capture of King Theebaw. One of the works for which Hooper is most famous in the field of ethnography is certainly his contribution to The People of India,
One of the images that caused the most sensation is undoubtedly that of the execution of Burmese prisoners, which brought Hooper to court and resulted in an official reprimand and a temporary reduction in salary. In 1896 Hooper retired from military service with the rank of colonel and lived in England until his death in 1912. Some of his photographs are in the archives of the British Museum and the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Thanks to the invention of photography at the beginning of the 19th century, a new profession was born: that of the military photographer. One of the first and most famous military photographers was undoubtedly Willoughby Wallace Hooper. Born in England, Hooper is famous for his photographs of ethnic groups, military and domestic scenes from 1860.At the age of sixteen, Hooper served as a secretary at East India House (the London headquarters of the East India Company). After a few years, he joined the British Army, where he first encountered the camera and photography. Fascinated by photography, Hooper took to the task with great enthusiasm and, as a self-taught photographer, learned everything necessary to become an official military photographer. When he came of age, he eventually became a photographer for the British Army, with the task of making ethnographic photographs in the central provinces of British India and, a few years later, in British Burma.
As for the photographic production of Willoughby Wallace Hooper, we remember all the photos related to the British military operations in India and Burma, but especially the hundreds of photos portraying the local population. One of Hooper's most famous collections was undoubtedly the "Tiger Shooting" collection, which he sold to hunters as evidence and souvenirs of hunting trips and published in 1887 as "Lantern readings: tiger shooting in India." Hooper is also very famous for his collection of photographs taken in the late 1880s of the Indian population affected by the famine in Madras. However, these photographs sparked a fierce controversy as Hooper was accused of not helping the needy on the ground. In the following years, another collection was published under the title "Burma", in which more than a hundred photographs depict the British expedition, various mishaps during the expedition, the embarkation in Madras and the capture of King Theebaw. One of the works for which Hooper is most famous in the field of ethnography is certainly his contribution to The People of India,
One of the images that caused the most sensation is undoubtedly that of the execution of Burmese prisoners, which brought Hooper to court and resulted in an official reprimand and a temporary reduction in salary. In 1896 Hooper retired from military service with the rank of colonel and lived in England until his death in 1912. Some of his photographs are in the archives of the British Museum and the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Page 1 / 1