India Through the Lens: Photography 1840–1911 is a landmark photographic and historical reference that explores the birth and development of photography in India during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Published to accompany the Smithsonian exhibition of the same name, the book presents more than seven decades of early photography, documenting India's landscapes, monuments, architecture, royalty, military history, and everyday life through the lenses of both British and Indian photographers. Edited by renowned art historian Vidya Dehejia, it combines scholarly essays with a remarkable collection of rare historical photographs, making it one of the definitive works on the history of photography in colonial India.

The volume features outstanding works by celebrated photographers such as Samuel Bourne, Lala Deen Dayal, Felice Beato, Linnaeus Tripe, and many lesser-known pioneers. Essays examine subjects including panoramic photography, architectural documentation, princely portraits, Himalayan expeditions, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and the evolution of photographic technology. Richly illustrated and meticulously researched, the book serves as both an art book and a historical archive, appealing to photographers, historians, museum professionals, collectors, and anyone interested in India's visual heritage.