Frederick Fiebig was a photographer, best known for his photographs of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Sri Lanka,
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...
, and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
taken in the 1850s.
History
There is very little information available about Frederick Fiebig. He was probably of German origin and became a lithographer in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
in the 1840s. He should not be confused with his contemporary and German compatriot, the Letton born post impressionist and expressionist painter
Frédéric Fiebig
Frédéric Fiebig ( lv, Frederiks Fībigs; 1885–1953) was a Latvian-born painter who lived in France. He was influenced by both post-Impressionism and Cubism and is considered a member of the Expressionist movement. Fiebig was a great travele ...
. He was possibly also a piano teacher for a time.
With the advent of
photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...
, Fiebig began producing hand-coloured prints of photographs captured using the
calotype process. His photographs of Calcutta are some of the earliest views of the city. He later travelled to
Madras,
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...
and
Kandy
Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...
in
Sri Lanka,
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...
, and
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, meticulously cataloguing the monuments and people around him. The
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
acquired roughly 500 of his photographs in 1856
which are now part of the Oriental and India Office collections at the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
.
Gallery
See also
*
Samuel Bourne
Samuel Bourne (30 October 1834 – 24 April 1912) was a British photographer known for his prolific seven years' work in India, from 1863 to 1870. Together with Charles Shepherd, he set up Bourne & Shepherd first in Shimla in 1863 and later i ...
*
John Burke (photographer)
John Burke (circa 1843–1900) was a photographer, best known for his photographs of the Second Anglo-Afghan War between 1878 and 1880. He was born in Ireland, around 1843, where he was a tradesman. He applied for a job in the British Army as ...
*
Linnaeus Tripe
Linnaeus Tripe (14 April 1822 – 2 March 1902) was a British pioneer of photography, best known for his photographs of India and Burma taken in the 1850s.
Early life
Linnaeus Tripe was born in Plymouth Dock (now Devonport), Devon, to Mary (178 ...
Bibliography
* John Hannavy, ''Encyclopedia of nineteenth-century photography'', New York : Routledge, 2008.
References
External links
Frederick Fiebig, Calcutta
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiebig, Frederick
19th-century German photographers