ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines Newland’s entry into the daguerreotype business in this bustling city of slavery, trade, cosmopolitan entertainment and seasonal migration. It also examines the nascent maritime communication and transport systems that facilitated his and other artists’ travel across emerging nations and volatile empires. The book explores how Calcutta represented the apex of Newland’s daguerreotype career, both in terms of the longevity of his Studio and the breadth of his customers. It focuses on Newland’s daguerreotype practice, exploring the ways his theatrical performances facilitated new forms of imagined connection for homesick first-generation settlers. Newland’s performances were versions of the ‘scientific’ shows made famous by London’s Royal Polytechnic Institution and Adelaide Gallery of Practical Science, but his shows weren’t simply the hermetic transportation of imperial culture from the centre to the periphery.
