While postcards of snake charmers were common in India, one of the more striking such views might be this one from Ahuja's studio in Rangoon, Burma. While one man touches a snake, the other uses not a flute but cymbals to manage the snakes.
Not many snake charmers make it into a photographer's studio, but here the soft floral backdrop and line of the flute reinforces the sense of the cobras emerging gracefully from their basket.
Snake charmers are one of the most common early Indian postcard subjects, and this must be one of the earliest and most beautiful such views. Note the clever use of the palm backdrop to create the illusion of depth, and the rich use of red.
