In part, this essay suggests one aspect of the new ‘visual turn’ in history, treating as evidence the production and reception of visual-culture artefacts. In part, it is concerned with the way that the objects and practices linked to visual culture established a sense of place for urban locales, and how that changed over time. Visual entry points for that sense of place are many: the built environments (and how their use and imputed meanings altered); the two-dimensional representations (such as photographs and posters) of these monuments and significant buildings that called out the storied meanings associated with them; the photographic documentations of everyday life; and the organisations and activities/events staged around and through built environments in each place.
Baedeker Indien 1914 map of nawabi Lucknow, with circles indicating the Husainabad Imambara, Bara Imambara, Macchi Bhavan, Qaisarbagh palace and Hazratganj (and Amjad Ali Shah’s mausoleum/tomb).
Hazratganj and the river served as routes along
which royal processions would move. Annotated by Sandria B. Freitag.
Baedeker Indien 1914 map, showing British Lucknow with main roads carved through.
Annotated by Sandria B. Freitag.