The Burma Mission

Ye-nan-gyoung: Tamarind Tree, August 14–16, 1855
Paula and Robert Hershkowitz

By contrasting the giant silhouetted tamarind tree in the foreground with the distant hilltop pagoda, Tripe adroitly revealed the natural and manmade wonder of Ye-nan-gyoung. Tripe and his fellow officers were impressed not only by the “striking and fantastic” beauty of the place but also by the pungent smell of the naturally occurring petroleum that permeated the air. (“Ye-nan-gyoung” means fetid water rivulet in Burmese.)

Pugahm Myo: Distant View of Gauda-palen Pagoda, August 20–24, 1855
Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, The Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors, and Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2012

Although earlier European travelers had celebrated Pugahm Myo as a magnificent site of vast scale, nothing had prepared Tripe and others on this expedition for its reality. As the mission’s engineer and secretary, Henry Yule, wrote: “This is certainly the most extraordinary place we have yet seen. Fancy pagodas of every form and colour, some of very great extent, some quite minute — here in perfect preservation, here a mound of ruin — and these spread out over miles and miles of ground.”

Pugahm Myo: Gauda-palen Pagoda, August 20–24, 1855
The British Library, London

The photographs Tripe made on the mission to Burma reveal his methodical approach. Taken together, his studies of the region constitute carefully planned sequences of pictures that show the sites from varying distances and viewpoints, providing a systematic visual record of them. At Pugahm Myo, he first photographed the scene from afar (see the previous slide) and then moved closer to depict the buildings and their layout in greater detail.

Pugahm Myo: Thapinyu Pagoda, August 20–24, 1855
Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, The Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors, and Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2012

Because early photographic negatives were overly sensitive to blue, clouds were difficult to record. To evoke them and other atmospheric effects, Tripe retouched his negatives by applying pigment in thin layers, gradually building up density and form with highlights and shadows. Demonstrating his dexterity, he would bring his retouching up to the edge of a structure, defining its silhouette with the precision of an architectural draftsman. The next slide illustrates a detail of the corresponding negative and Tripe's retouching of the sky.

Detail from a waxed-paper negative by Linnaeus Tripe of Pugahm Myo: Thapinyu Pagoda, August 20–24, 1855
Royal Photographic Society Collection, National Media Museum, Bradford

Pugahm Myo: East Facade of Damayangyee Pagoda, August 20–24, 1855
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Edward J. Lenkin Fund, 2012.87.24

This 12th-century pagoda at Pugahm Myo differs from traditional Indian temple architecture and reflects Islamic influence in its use of brick vaults and pointed arches.

Pugahm Myo: Carved Doorway in Courtyard of Shwe Zeegong Pagoda, August 20–24 or October 23, 1855
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Diana and Mallory Walker Fund, 2012.87.16

Tsagain Myo: View near the Irrawadi River, August 29–30, 1855
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Stephen G. Stein Fund, 2012.87.7

In addition to painting clouds into his photographs, Tripe frequently retouched the foliage. Green and red tones were often underexposed because of the limitations of early photographic chemistry, making foliage appear darker and less articulated in the final print than to the eye. Tripe compensated by retouching his negatives with a series of marks that stood for leaves or their highlights. He also used delicate strokes to suggest light transmitted through a latticework of leaves.

Tsagain Myo: Ruined Tazoung, August 29–30, 1855
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Stephen G. Stein Fund, 2012.87.5

This small, ruined wooden shrine, or pavilion (tazoung), flanked by white-plastered pagodas, reflected the Burmese Buddhists’ belief that they gained greater spiritual merit by establishing a new shrine or monastery than by repairing an existing one. However, structures like the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, which contained relics of the Buddha, underwent numerous renovations (see slide 13 in the next section: Amerapoora).

Tsagain Myo: Litters under a Shed, August 29–30, 1855
Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, The Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors, and Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2012

Tsagain Myo: A Roadway, August 29–30, 1855
Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, The Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors, and Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2012

Before proceeding to their final destination in Amerapoora, members of the expedition waited in Tsagain Myo. Tripe made 12 negatives in two days (a large number considering the complexity of the undertaking), including this picturesque view of rustic dwellings nestled among towering trees along a dusty road.

Amerapoora: West Gate of the Residency Enclosure, September 1–October 21, 1855
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Edward J. Lenkin Fund, 2012.87.26

King Mindon went to considerable expense to prepare for the British mission, building this residency for them across a lagoon from Amerapoora and connected to it by a teak bridge (see next slide).

Amerapoora: Wooden Bridge, September 1–October 21, 1855
Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, The Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors, and Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2012

With the eye of a surveyor, Tripe took this dramatic view looking toward the 3/4-mile-long bridge that led to the British residency across the lagoon. To highlight the scale of the massive teak pillars in the foreground, he included two figures seated in the shade of a tree and small rest house to the right. Many of the buildings in Amerapoora that Tripe photographed were dismantled after 1859 when the capital moved to Mandalay, but this bridge, which Tripe’s colleague Henry Yule called “apparently interminable,” survives today.

Amerapoora: Colossal Statue of Gautama, Close to the North End of the Wooden Bridge, September 1–October 21, 1855
Collection of Charles Isaacs and Carol Nigro

This monumental figure of Gautama, the most popular Burmese form of the historical Buddha, overlooked the near end of the long wooden bridge seen in the previous photograph. As in most Southeast Asian images of Gautama, he is portrayed seated cross-legged with his left hand in his lap and his right hand gently touching the earth.

Amerapoora: View on the Lake, September 1–October 21, 1855
Courtesy Robert Hershkowitz, Charles Isaacs, Hans P. Kraus Jr.

Amerapoora: Shwe-doung-dyk Pagoda, September 1–October 21, 1855
Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, The Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors, and Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2012

Tripe retouched most of his negatives made in Burma and India. Here he painted the banks of clouds on the negative and even added horizontal strokes in the foreground to suggest ripples on the water. He may have done this to compensate for the numerous pinholes in the negative that caused a peppering of black dots scattered across the print.

Amerapoora: Ouk Kyoung, September 1–October 21, 1855
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Edward J. Lenkin Fund, 2012.87.23

Amerapoora: Toung-lay-lou-tiy Kyoung, September 1–October 21, 1855
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Stephen G. Stein Fund, 2012.87.3

Most of the monasteries that Tripe encountered were made of wood, but a few monumental brick monasteries, such as this one, were constructed in the 18th century. In this photograph, Tripe focused on the massive staircase, with its sweeping balustrades and profuse ornamentation. The remains of this building today lie southwest of Mandalay.

Amerapoora: Corner of Mygabhoodee-tee Kyoung, September 1–October 21, 1855
Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, The Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors, and Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2012

Amerapoora: Doorway of Pyathat on East of Maha-too-lo-Bounghian Kyoung, September 1–October 21, 1855
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Edward J. Lenkin Fund, 2012.87.19

This photograph shows the eastern entrance to the Royal Daughter’s Monastery, built as a pious offering by the queen during King Pagan’s rule from 1846 to 1852. Only the highest ranking patrons could afford the enormous expense of building such a richly ornamented monastery.

Amerapoora: Part of Balcony on the South Side of Maha-oung-meeay-liy-mhan Kyoung, September 1–October 21, 1855
Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, The Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors, and Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2012

This elaborately carved wooden balcony, part of a complex of monastic buildings created during the reigns of Tharawadi (ruled 1837–1846) and Pagan (ruled 1846–1852), is often considered the zenith of Burmese woodcarving. This building survived until 1945.

Amerapoora: South Ditch of the City Wall, September 1–October 21, 1855
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Edward J. Lenkin Fund, 2012.87.20

With its deeply receding perspective, this photograph of the city wall on the southeast corner of Amerapoora shows the precise angularity and great length of the brick-lined moat. As an army officer, Tripe may have intended the photograph to present clear documentation of the meagre fortifications of the capital city. King Mindon also recognized Amerapoora’s defensive weaknesses and moved the capital to Mandalay in 1859 to get out of the reach of British gunboats.

Rangoon: View near the Lake, November 1855
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Diana and Mallory Walker Fund, 2012.87.9

The Shwe Dagon Pagoda, seen in the distance at left, was the preeminent sacred site for Burmese Buddhists; for the British, however, it was a place of key battles in wars against the Burmese in 1824–1826 and 1852. Occupied by the British in 1824, the pagoda was subsequently retaken and heavily fortified by the Burmese in 1852. Tripe’s own regiment joined others in fierce fighting over the Shwe Dagon, which they recaptured on April 14, 1852. Discovery of a Burmese plot to retake the pagoda and stage an uprising against the British in November 1853 led Lord Dalhousie to continue military occupation of the hill and its sacred pagoda.

Rangoon: Near View of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, November 1855
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Edward J. Lenkin Fund, 2012.87.18

Like other major stupas, the Shwe Dagon Pagoda was regularly renovated. Tripe’s photograph shows the network of bamboo scaffolding that enabled workmen to regild its bell-shaped surface.

Rangoon: Henzas on the East Side of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, November 1855
Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, The Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors, and Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2012

Rangoon: A Street, Old Style, November 1855
The British Library, London

In 1855, Rangoon was in the midst of transition. A few years earlier, the British announced their plans to build a new, modernized colonial city on this site, which had been damaged by fires, floods, and war. In this photograph, Tripe framed a distant view of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda between two rows of simple buildings and a makeshift raised wooden walkway, all of which would soon be demolished.

Rangoon: Signal Pagoda, November 1855
Private Collection, Courtesy Hans P. Kraus Jr.

When sailing on the Irrawadi River, visitors first saw the spire of this pagoda, high on a hill outside of Rangoon. The British outfitted it as a signal station to allow naval captains to reset their chronometers with the precision needed for accurate navigation. The British regarded the signal station as evidence of their civilizing influence on Rangoon, but to the Burmese it marked the desecration of a sacred site.