The Carte de Visite (French for ‘Visiting Cards’) stands as one of the most fascinating inventions in the 19th century, not only for its technical innovation but also for its profound social and cultural impact. Patented in 1854 by the Parisian photographer André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, a camera with four lenses was used to make eight small photographs measuring approximately 2 ½ by 4 inches on a full-size plate of 6 ½ by 8 ½ inches. Disdéri’s innovation involved exposing multiple photographs on a single collodion plate- a method that drastically lowered expenses and enabled large-scale manufacturing. The resulting prints were pasted onto cards. This format was crucial, as it marked a point of departure from traditional (and much more expensive) portrait types, like paintings and early photographic techniques like the daguerreotypes, which were only available for the wealthy.
In 1859, French Emperor Napoleon III posed for a carte de visite, causing these cards’ popularity to explode among the salons of Paris. In 1857, Marion & Company brought the carte de visite to England, and it soon dominated the market. Queen Victoria also commissioned Jabez Edwin Mayall to take her portraits, which was distributed in the public space. Many historians have referred to cartes de visite as having a similar appeal and usage as social media is to us today!
The ubiquity of the carte de visite cannot be understated! By the 1860s, the craze around creating, buying, selling, and collecting cartes de visite was known as ‘Cardomania’ or ‘Cartomania’ in newspapers and journals. Between 1861 and 1867, over 300 million cartes de visite were sold in England alone. It was commonplace, used as visiting cards that could be handed and collected by anyone. Families collected and kept carte de visite of their loved ones, celebrities, and royalty and kept them in decorated albums. In the mid-1860s, the carte de visite was slowly replaced with the Cabinet Card, which was slightly bigger in size (6 ½ by 4 ¼ inches). Photographic studios printed their studio name and address on the back of the cards, enticing the public with their deals and offerings. At its core, carte de visite revolutionized photography in two significant ways: it democratized photography and provided identity and individuality to the rising middle class in England who could now afford to get their likeness captured.
Many of us have seen Victorian portrait paintings of nobility and royalty. Painting, like early photography, was reserved for the upper classes and royalty, and there were strict rules and norms about what one would wear, where they would sit, and how they would pose. Cartes de visite allowed the new middle class to also indulge in these conventions, and this created anxieties amongst the upper class since their costumes, elaborate backdrops, and furniture could be easily simulated in the new photographic studios for a fraction of the price.
As mentioned earlier, individuals as well as family portraits got cartes de visite made. Parents also had cards made for their children. Since the cards were widely distributed and collected, there was also a struggle for authenticity. People who had never had their likeness captured now faced the difficulty of posing in front of the camera. Like many of us who post on social media today, people back then also struggled to identify how they would want to be perceived by anyone who would receive the cards. A review in the Scientific American on 16th August 1862 read:
“I have myself sat on two occasions for one of these portraits. On the first I was simply occupied in keeping still and presenting a tolerably favorable view to my features and limbs to the fatal lens; but the result was so tame and unimposing a picture that I determined on the next occasion to throw more intellect into the thing, and finding a certain richly gilded curtain tassel convenient to my gaze, I gave it a look of such piercing scrutiny, and so withered and blasted it with the energy of my regard, that I almost wonder it did not sink beneath the trial…”
This ‘performance’ was an early glimpse into how visual media could both reflect and construct social identities, as well as represent belonging and aspirations. The pervasive carte de visite became a memory card and a collectible that continues to preserve the changing tastes, fashions, and trends from the late 19th century.
The Carte de Visite and Cabinet Cards in Colonial India
Photography arrived in India in the 1840s, and the initial decades saw the emergence of many photographic studios across the country. This included legendary studios like Lala Deen Dayal & Sons (established by the pioneering Indian photographer Lala Deen Dayal in the mid-1870s) and Bourne & Shepherd Studios (established by British photographers Samuel Bourne and Charles Shepherd in the 1860s), The Bombay Photographic Co., S. Hormusjee Photographers, among many others. These studios were located in cities like Mumbai and Kolkata, where wealthy patrons resided.
Similar to the story in the West, the initial cartes de visite and cabinet cards were of British officers and their families, Indian royalty, and nobility. Many Indian royals enthusiastically adopted this form of representation, and figures like Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II of Jaipur, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Lucknow, Maharaja Shivajirao Holkar of Indore, and Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, Nizam of Hyderabad had their portraits taken. These early portraits showed these royal men wearing elaborate clothing and ornate jewellery, standing or sitting against rich fabric or hand-painted backdrops, and being surrounded by decorated furniture and architecture. These cards were very similar to those of European royalty. This was symbolic, as many royal families in India took influence from existing British tastes to strengthen their relationship with the British Government, or even try to emulate their status. The furniture and backdrops in these studios were also often inspired by Victorian architecture!
In 19th-century colonial India, a veil was obligatory for royal and noble women, and it was considered improper for women to have their photograph taken at all. However, there is evidence that many women and girls did have their cartes de visite made. Women were also present in many family cabinet cards, where they were either dressed in traditional Indian attire or western clothing. For courtesans and entertainers, cartes de visite were crucial for publicity! The cards were not only a way to preserve their images at the peak of their careers but also to showcase their wealth and accumulate more clients.
India Photo Archive Foundation has a significant collection of over a hundred original cartes de visite and cabinet cards from the late 19th century. These show a range of individuals- family photographs, solo photographs of men, women, and children, and photographs of royalty by a range of iconic photographic studios such as Bourne & Shepherd, EOS Photographic Company, Rustomjee Jamsetjee and Co, S. Hormusjee Photographers, and many more! A selection from this archive is also currently on display in Museo Camera’s exhibition ‘Touching Light: A Prelude to the Bicentennial of Photography 1827-2027’, on view until 4th October 2025. The exhibition celebrates and highlights the evolution of analog photography in India, spanning almost two centuries. These cards form a crucial innovation in the history of photography and a significant visual history as it provided an identity to many Indians who were otherwise unknown.
To view these cartes de visite, come visit Museo Camera!
