Tripe was a British pioneer of photography, best known for his photographs of India and Burma taken in the 1850s. In December 1854, he took his first Indian photographs (pp. 173-201), and, in February of the following year, he displayed them at the Madras Exhibition of Raw Products, Arts, and Manufactures. His 68 shots of previously unphotographed temples were declared by the jury to be the "best series of photographic views on paper." He won a gold medal for his series of calotypes, illustrating Burmese architecture and ornament.
