About Book
This rare collection of 300 archival photographs accompanied by explanatory captions depicts women's lives during the period 1875-1947. It also includes a comprehensive, well-researched, yet lucid introduction placing in context the photographs which have been gleaned from private collections of families and friends, as well as from archives sections of various institutions, originally presented in an exhibition held by the Centre for Women's Development Studies.
Focusing on the photographs, the book is divided into five sections of images: Visualizing the Family showcases family photographs that show the changing role of women due to the emergence of the urban nuclear family; The Learning Experience looks at pioneers in educational reform and the experiences of women in schools and colleges; Worlds Beyond studies the beginnings of women's emancipation by recording upper caste women as pioneers in the creative arts, middle-class women travelling and experiencing life outside the home, and women as agricultural labourers and factory workers; The Freedom Struggle documents the process of women's evolution as active political beings in a critical phase of the nation's history; and Towards the Midnight Hour captures a sense of challenge and commitment by highlighting the emergence of women as professionals and their experiences through the Bengal famine, Quit India movement, Partition, and the Second World War. This professionally designed, well-produced volume provides a more holistic understanding of what is learnt through the written word, memory, and recall.
This book will be of great interest to general readers, students and scholars of gender studies, history, sociology, culture and media studies photographers, photo-journalists, archivists, and art historians.