Drawn from the remarkable Alkazi Collection of Photography, this book traces the arrival, dissemination and development of photography in Bombay between the mid-19th and early-20th century. Photography arrived in Mumbai as early as 1840, via trade, as well as through European explorers and government officials, and the city quickly grew to be one of the largest centres of photography's patronage and dissemination in India. The British recorded and documented the various castes and tribes of India, using the medium of photography. This gradually led to the experimentation with portraiture and performance in numerous studios. This book uses enduring images of families, events and landscapes to examine the work of the early Indian photographers Shapoor Bhedwar, Dr Narayan Daji and S Hormusji, and independent firms such as Bourne & Shepherd, to highlight the trends that dominated the early years of photography in India.