The book comprises of a rich selection of 15 essays that are the outcome of first and second generation critical enquiry into the history of photography in India, its social imprints and artistic intentions. The story of the lens and shutter is not just a narrative of colonial conquest and capture, but also marks the imaginative subversion and creative enquiry that went into the making of a modern independent nation. The subjects explored include early forays in Pictorialism and studio photography, the growing prominence of photojournalism and enthnographic documentation, experimentations with performance and filmmaking, as well as the current explosion of morphed and ‘poor’ images in digital media. The essayists, as scholars, curators and critics, bring the disciplines of anthropology, film and media criticism, museology, gender and queer studies to bear on their writings. Contributions include those from Jyotindra Jain, Rahaab Allana, Deepali Dewan, Sumathi Ramaswamy, Diva Gujral, Sabeena Gadihoke, Ranu Roychoudhuri, Shanay Jhaveri, Ranjani Mazumdar, Suryanandini Narain, Kajri Jain, Parul Dave Mukherji, Gayatri Gopinath, Chinar Shah and Aileen Blaney. The semantic mix of methods and the meanings that they excavate from archival and contemporary work make this volume a seminal study of nearly 200 years of practice in this field.