It is said that the camera never lies. One click of the shutter and you get a snapshot of the past. A record of reality. But that is not always the case, as the grand old man of Indian theatre, Ebrahim Alkazi, proves with an exhibition curated by him. Titled `Power and Dominion', his photo album runs through the three imperial darbars held by the British between 1877 to 1911 and shows how the Empire manipulated the camera as an instrument of imperialist propaganda.

The first time photographs were used as proof and stamp of the Raj's power and regality was after the 1857 Revolt. Shocked at the extent of the insurgency -- which was downplayed as a mutiny -- the British decided to hold a darbar in 1877. The occasion was the declaration of Queen Victoria as Kaiser-I-Hind, Empress of India, a tag that put her above the Indian maharajas, says Alkazi.

The 1877 darbar was designed to show Indians that the British Empire was equal to the might of the Mughals. With Delhi as the seat of the darbar, kings from all the states were called to pay obeisance to the Empress. In return they were presented with a coat of arms and a gold medallion. "Though Bahadur Shah Zafar was Emperor only in name by then, he still wielded a lot of psychological power. The ritual of giving nazaar, where the Emperor met and presented the king with a garment, held symbolic meaning for them," says Alkazi. And the trinkets given by the British were meant to impart the same sense of significance.

But making psychological inroads was not good enough. It was complemented by physical action.The grounds flanking the two sides of the Red Fort were the cultural nerve centre of Delhi. Poets, artists, musicians, all lived under the patronage of Bahadur Shah Zafar, who was a keen poet himself. Their houses were razed to the ground to construct a railway as a passage for the darbar.

With seeming arrogance they ignored the fact that the country was, at that time, ravaged by a famine. For the sake of symmetry, photographs of the famine are beautifully arranged tableaus of people. So what if it was balanced by starved women, breast feeding babies, says Alkazi.

The second darbar was held in 1903 by Lord Curzon. The occasion was the visit of Prince Edward, Duke of Connaught. Besides photographs, the event was well covered by official illustrators from various newspapers. Some of these illustrations too are a part of the exhibition. Done on the spot, these were printed with captions such as `Ruling chiefs doing homage to the Duke of Connaught' or `The homage of native prince to the Duke and Viceroy'. The images strengthened the idea of the `White man's burden' back home as the pictures put across a sentiment that the uncivilised natives had gratefully accepted the superiority of their rulers.

The third darbar was a momentous occasion. For the first time, ruling monarchs -- King George V and Queen Mary, were coming to India. Playing on symbolism again, they chose to address their empire from the Red Fort. "And as a benevolent gesture, the British allowed the children of native kings to hold King George's cloak. Deemed a great honour, there was much bickering for the privilege," says Alkazi. And faithful illustrations covering this were shipped back promptly.

All these photographs are from Alkazi's personal collection. "During the 19th and early 20th century, there were companies like Bourne & Sheppard of Calcutta, which recorded most events. Twelve years ago, the B&S office in Calcutta was burnt to ashes. I felt bad about this loss to Indian history, so I decided to collect these photographs," he says. His collection has been bought over time from auctions in England, where albums of India have been preserved for generations. "These companies had catalogues from which people going back would choose some native exotica such as snaps of snake charmers, as souvenirs," he says. One of their favourites, a popular Christmas card each year, was of burning funeral pyres -- the British found the ritual absolutely fascinating.

Alkazi has bought more than 100 photographs and illustrations for the show which is a sequel to the exhibition that he curated last year on old photographs of Mumbai. And this is not the last one, he promises.At the Piramal Gallery, NCPA. Till December 14, 1997. Time: 11.00 am to 7.00 pm.