Biography

          

 

Acharya Sri Jagdish Lal Goswami

      1912-2006

 

 

Born in Vrindavan, U.P. India, his father, Sri. B.K. Goswami, was not only a practicing priest but a talented artist in oils and photographer who attended the Durbar of George V in New Delhi in 1911.

Sri Jagdish Lal Goswami not only inherited his father’s religious tradition but was interested in photography from an early age. His other talents of clay modelling and hand coloured retouching of black and white photographs are of the highest standard and examples of his work are in the collection of the British Museum, London.

Sri Jagdish Lal Goswami has single-handedly recorded various aspects of one of the foremost religious Sampradayas in northern India, following the Vaishnav tradition of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Not only was he actively involved in performing sewa (service) of Sri Radharamana deity in Vrindavan and the many rituals attached to festivals throughout the year, he was documenting in black and white photographs the many Saints and learned persons who were either living or passing through Vrindavan. His large format camera produced glass plate negatives of royal, half and quarter cabinet size. The intricacy of this work and the fact that his archive contains hundreds of glass plates and negatives in good condition show the exceptional talent he possessed. The quality of his work is renowned for excellence.

The fruits of such a fulfilled life have been archived meticulously in original POP and black and white prints which, together with the photographs collected and taken by his father, embody a rich collection of life throughout the 1900’s in Vrindavan. His panoramic landscapes reveal the true beauty of the magnificent ghats and carved sandstone architecture and the whole collection is of national importance in the history of India in the twentieth century. Many other important photographs have been lost or destroyed appertaining to this region of Vraj but under the auspices of the archive at Sri Caitanya Prema Samsthana, Vrindavan this valuable collection is maintained. It is a collection of work which rivals that of Deen Dayal and other period photographers of that century.

 

 

 

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