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Murray was in the city during this time, having taken
leave of absence from his post in Agra from April 27,
1857 to February 5, 1858. As a seller of fi ne prints at
Haymarket, Hogarth had understood the importance of
photographs not only as aesthetic objects but as agents of
pronounced sentiment associated with British colonial-
ism. The pictures offered viewers a graphic opportunity
for imaginative refl ection on India’s past and carried
potent meaning with respect to the bloodshed that was
presently occurring between native India and the Brit-
ish. This was the rebellion of sepoys—Indians pressed
into the service of the British army—which had broken
out in May 1857, and was soon to become a populist
uprising. Known variously as the Indian Mutiny and
Rebellion of 1857, the fi ghting, brutal and devastating
to both factions, ultimately hardened British resolve
to impose imperial authority over India under Queen
Victoria. Hogarth exhibited thirty of Murray’s 15 × 18
inch prints from calotype negatives. The December 1
issue of Art Journal posted a review of Murray’s work,
which the writer observed to be “a series of beautiful
photographs, presenting localities that must hereafter be
regarded with an interest far beyond that which ordinary
historic events communicate.” Murray’s artistry notwith-
standing, the reviewer was clearly making reference to
the insurgency. In 1858 Hogarth published a volume of
the doctor’s views, Photographic Views in Agra, and Its
Vicinity, with descriptions by J. Middleton, Principal of
the Company’s College at Agra. This was followed the
next year by Picturesque Views in the North-Western
Provinces of India, also a Hogarth production, with text
by Major-General J.T. Boileau. Boileau appreciated the
subtlety of craft and picturesque appeal of Murray’s
pictures, while drawing special attention to evidence of
politically symbolic import within individual views—a
Union jack, for instance, atop the famous Delhi Gate of
Agra Fort, “the emblem of British supremacy in India.”
Among other noteworthy practitioners on the scene
in the aftermath of 1857 were Felice Beato, Charles
Shepherd, and the photographer couple Major Robert
and Harriet Christina Tytler, who were assisted in their
art by Beato and Murray himself.
As a doctor Murray found correlations between the
land and diseases endemic to monsoon climates. He kept
a valuable medical library (moved for protection during
the peak of the rebellion), published studies on cholera,
and on the topography of localities in north central India.
Thus, while many of his photographs emphasize the
architectural legacy of the Mughal empire, they include
features that bear testimony to an intimate knowledge of
the terrain beyond an eye looking for the picturesque.
A series of pictures from Agra Fort overlooking the
Jumna River, for instance, reveal seasonal changes,
where the water level varies, sand bars shift, and foliage
fl ourishes or diminishes. They suggest an awareness
of how visual evidence might serve to demonstrate
existing conditions of place that would complement
any written report. These and many other prints whoseMURRAY, JOHN
Murray, John. The Taj Mahal from the
Bank of the River, Agra.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Gilman Collection, Purchase, Joseph
M. Cohen Gift, 2005 (2005.100.71)
Image © The Metropolitan Museum of
Art.