India. Calcutta. Harrison Road I with Group of Jogees, after photo by Dr. Kurt Boeck (c. 1890–1910): Art, History and Details

India. Calcutta. Harrison Road I with Group of Jogees, after photo by Dr. Kurt Boeck (c. 1890–1910) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Photoglob Co. (Zurich, active c. 1890–1910).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The light poles in the image suggest the photo was taken after that event. The Jogees or Jogis are a rapidly shrinking caste that began as a community of people who practiced yoga and worshipped the Hindu god Shiva. Many earn their living as religious beggars. They traditionally wear saffron-colored clothing, but the printers in Switzerland who added the color to this image did not know that.

Object facts

• Title: India. Calcutta. Harrison Road I with Group of Jogees, after photo by Dr. Kurt Boeck
• Date: c. 1890–1910
• Creator attribution: Photoglob Co. (Zurich, active c. 1890–1910)
• Culture: India, 19th century
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: Photochrom
• Dimensions: Image: 20.6 x 26.4 cm (8 1/8 x 10 3/8 in.); Paper: 20.6 x 26.4 cm (8 1/8 x 10 3/8 in.)
• Collection: PH - Misc. 19th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2019.186

A detail from the museum

In 1899, Harrison Road (now Mahatma Gandhi Road) became the first road to be lit by electricity in Kolkatta (formerly Calcutta).

Collection credit

Gift of Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Barbara Timmer

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.