The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : A history of Chennai in priceless pictures

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 19, 2011
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

A history of Chennai in priceless pictures

Staff Reporter

Second edition of ‘Madras – its past and its present' released

Modern technology has added more details to many of the pictures
Need for documenting social history and awareness quizzes stressed

— Photo: S. R. Raghunathan.

M.V. Subbiah, chairman, National Skill Development Corporation hands over the first copy of S. Muthiah's (centre) book to senior architect S. L. Chitale (right) in Chennai on Wednesday.

CHENNAI: “This story doesn't start with ‘Once upon a time'” – so recalled historian S. Muthiah on Wednesday as he chronicled the history of Madras, filled with integrated stories about the ancient heritage of the city.

“It started in 1960s when an Englishman Peter Cochrane, discovered a priceless treasure trove of photographic plates owned by Ms. Cooper in Kunoor.”

With it, the history of the city surfaced in the form of visual images clicked in between 1880 and 1930 by photographers presumably Michael Peyel, Valeska Klein and Theodore Klein, which had had landed in Ms Cooper's house, explained Mr. Muthiah.

“Around 1,515 negatives were transferred from Kunoor to Madras under police escort then. But none of them contain evidence of who clicked them,” he added.

Mr. Muthiah was speaking at a function organised by the Murugappa group here to launch the second edition of his book ‘Madras – its past and its present'.

The book carries images that hold the city in a time capsule and promises to captivate the readers, page after page. “80 per cent of the book is original. We have made the necessary corrections and added some new pictures. Modern technology has added more detail to many of the pictures,” he added.

The first edition was published 15 years ago.

A daunting task

Speaking about the days of ‘wet collodion' photography – the technique used in the ‘vintage vignettes collection,' – D. Krishnan, Photo Editor, The Hindu, explained how those ancient bulky cameras, often carried by many assistants, with plates that needed to be sensitised frequently, made it difficult for photographers to conduct outdoor shoots.

“After we got the negatives, it was Mr. Muthiah who gave life to them by identifying the places and the date the photographs were shot.”

Presenting old and recent photographs of Parry's building, St. Mary's Church, lawyers' block, Esplanade boundary pillar and heritage buildings on North Beach Road, before it became Rajaji Salai,

Mr. Muthiah drew stark comparisons, and called for the need to pay more attention to conservation of heritage buildings.

He also called for the need to document social history, and for organising a Madras quiz for children to help them become more heritage conscious.

Launching the book, M.V .Subbiah, chairman, National Skill Development Corporation and former chairman of Murugappa group, spoke about S. Muthiah's contribution in creating heritage consciousness in the city. “It perhaps lies in his Nagarathar origins. Chettiars are always known to preserve temples and ancient traditions.”

The first copy of the book was handed over to S. L. Chitale, senior architect.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu