Annapurna Dutta
Illustration — At "Kashana", the house of Hassan Suhrawardy, Kolkata, 1937: Sitting (left to right): Aruna Asaf Ali, Nellie Sengupta, Sarojini Naidu, Shahbanu Begum, and unknown. The photograph was taken by Annapurna Dutta, "Photographer Mashima". Annapurna Dutta (1894–1976) was one of the early female professional photographers from India.
Annapurna Dutta
Annapurna Dutta · Deshpriya Jatindra Mohan Nellie Sengupta from "Rare photographs of Eastern Bengal. (1880-1940)" by Waqar Khan (2003) · Public domain
- Born
- 1894
- Died
- 1976
- Nationality
- India
- Occupation
- photographer
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Illustration — At "Kashana", the house of Hassan Suhrawardy, Kolkata, 1937: Sitting (left to right): Aruna Asaf Ali, Nellie Sengupta, Sarojini Naidu, Shahbanu Begum, and unknown. The photograph was taken by Annapurna Dutta, "Photographer Mashima". Annapurna Dutta (1894–1976) was one of the early female professional photographers from India.
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wikidata · Q115715549 · wikipedia · Annapurna Dutta
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Life and career
At a time when studio-photography was a male-dominated profession, and accepting employment outside the domestic home was uncommon for women, Annapurna gained popularity as "Photographer Mashima" amidst her younger contemporaries. She did not own a studio, but instead worked on a commission-basis, visiting people's homes to click portraits. Most of these commissions came from families where women observed a purdah. She also developed and printed the pictures herself.
Born in undivided Bengal, Annapurna was married at the age of 12 to Upendranath Dutta, a lawyer by profession and a keen, but amateur photographer. She learnt painting and photography, later taking up photography professionally at the age of 25. She supported her family through earnings from her commissions. Her commissions came from elite families such as those of the singer Abbas Uddin, poet Jasimuddin, and the family of Hasan Suhrawardy.
Life and career
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Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1894
Annapurna Dutta was born on 1 January 1894.
1976
Annapurna Dutta died on 1 January 1976.
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- “Annapurna Dutta”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
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- Wikidata, structured authority record Q115715549: Annapurna Dutta
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These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.PEEPING BEHIND THE PURDAH - Early women photographers. www.telegraphindia.com.
- 2.Lettmann, Birgit. India and Its Visual Cultures: Community, Class and Gender in a Symbolic Landscape. Sage Publications India Private Limited. 2017. 9789353881238.
- 3.Helland, Janice. Local/Global: Women Artists in the Nineteenth Century. Routledge. 2017-07-05. 978-1-351-55984-3.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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