Who Is Missing? Albums and Archives

Abstract

While collecting family photographs of some of the 2.5 million Indians who fought in World War II on behalf of their British colonizer, this article's author, an artist, found that the idea of photographic “ubiquity” was turned on its head. She became increasingly aware of how socioeconomic privilege, caste, and class played a role in who was never photographed and thus who is not represented in the history of photography, in photo albums, and in military archives. Three different installations titled The UNREMEMBERED: Indian Soldiers of World War II include the use family photographs and archival footage. In this article, the artist explores questions about who is not represented in photo albums and archives and approaches to remedying their absence.