Guilt in the Archive: Photography and the Amritsar Massacre of 1919

Willcock, S. (2019) ‘Guilt in the Archive: Photography and the Amritsar Massacre of 1919’, History of Photography, 43(1), pp. 47–59. doi: 10.1080/03087298.2019.1613791. Abstract: What role should photographic evidence play in current debates about whether or not Britain should apologise for the historic crimes of empire? This article examines the photographs that emerged from the Amritsar Massacre of 13 April 1919, considering what such documents can tell us about the relationship between atrocity and the imperial project. Colonials working in both official and unofficial capacities turned to photography in their attempt to justify this bloody twentieth-century episode. Such photography addressed colonial debates concerning the scope of moral and legal, individual and collective, and British and Indian culpability for the Massacre. It is therefore important that we attend to such visual evidence at the Massacre’s centenary, as the United Kingdom is urged to apologise for the infamous slaughter of Indian men, women, and children. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit necropolitics.substack.com