Photography history: by African photographer Seydou Keïta (ca. 1921-2001), Untitled [Seated Woman with Chevron Print Dress], 1956. #photograpy #photographyhistory #africa #africanphotography #portraitphotography #vintagephotography

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art: “From 1949 to 1977 Keita was the most popular portrait photographer in his native Bamako, Mali, producing thousands of commissioned portraits of politicians, government workers, shop owners, and ordinary citizens that comprise an outstanding visual record of a modern society.”

Photography history: portrait of Princess Indira Devi of Kapurthala, mid 1930s, Kinsey Studios, Delhi. #photography #vintagephotography #vintage #india #photographyhistory

From the blog “Arjunpuri in Qatar”:
‘“Maharajkumari Indira Devi (a.k.a. Princess Indee), born in 1912, was the daughter of Maharaja Paramjit Singh and Maharani Brinda of Kapurthala. By all accounts a spirited, intelligent young woman, she left India for Britain in her early 20s to become a movie star. She studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, and worked briefly in the movies, narrating a few films.

After the outbreak of WWII, this feisty young princess successfully passed the St. John Ambulance examination and drove ambulances during air raids! She eventually joined the BBC in 1942, and hosted several series of radio broadcasts in Hindustani for Indian forces stationed in the Middle East. She also became famous for hosting ‘The Debate Continues’- a weekly broadcast to India. For this programme, she reported from the House of Commons, where she was the only woman in the entire press gallery!

Popularly known as the ‘Radio Princess’, she continued to work for the BBC till 1968. She passed away in 1979, in Ibiza, Spain.”