More than 90 years after Vogel left India, his collection is back. Art historian and curator Gerda Theuns-de Boer has brought them to Delhi both as part of an exhibition and in the form of a book, A Vision of Splendour: Indian Heritage in the Photographs of Jean Philippe Vogel. “These hold a lot of archival value and give a glimpse into India’s past,” says Boer, as she introduces the sepia pictures that now belong to the Kern Institute at Leiden, the Netherlands, where she is manager of the photography collection.

Getting access to the photographs may have been easy but Boer says the challenge was in shortlisting 70 from 10,000 for the exhibition. “I wanted to focus on the great value of heritage photography as well as showcase Vogel as a participant in the growing professionalism within the ASI during that period. Vogel’s persona and his beliefs also needed to be projected.”

The same rule also holds true for the book. With 150 photographs spread across 200 pages, it does not merely project India but also introduces its admirer, Vogel. Boer laces the text with personal anecdotes from Vogel’s diaries and brings to light, among others, his love for Chamba. “He called it beloved Chamba,” recalls Boer. “Now I want to follow in Vogel’s footsteps and visit the same places.” Before she takes leave, she curiously glances at a photograph of the Khirki Masjid in Delhi, and sighs, “I hope to visit it.... The monuments would look different now.”