A French historian once said, "History is a gallery of pictures in which there are a few originals and many copies." But how much of our history do we truly record? What about the small businesses and industries? What do we know about them? Most of our history is written, but it is the visual archives that truly provide a gateway to the past.

 

As photography rapidly grew into a commercial enterprise during the early 20th century, big industrial houses used it as a medium to record their rise to power. But have we, as a nation, truly recorded our economic evolution?

 

There is an India, beyond the big factories and dams. An India of small industries and home production.

 

There are pictures proving the existence of the Punjab Stock Exchange in Delhi, a modern milk dairy in Secunderabad in the 1930's and the Modi group, which had its beginnings with lantern manufacturing during the 30's; yet no one seems to remember them.

 

These few pictures are the only physical proof we have of the beginnings of the industries of today. At the India Photo Archive Foundation we intend to locate, preserve and compile these in the form of books and catalogues. We aspire to document our economic history, to remember our humble beginnings and relive the past.