Throughout his travels Fred Bremner was struck by the expansive landscapes of the Indian subcontinent. His photographs often incorporated the familiar European visual language of the Picturesque, nowhere more so than in Kashmir. Travelling there in 1896, he was following in the footsteps of poets, artists and early photographers. Describing the Dal Lake he wrote that it is said to be, "… one of the most beautiful spots in Kashmir. Passing through the Dal Canal on the way to the lake one sees at every bend the magnificent groups of Chenar trees which form one of the most striking features in the Valley...one cannot help but admire the works of nature which are depicted in a variety of beautiful ways in the stillness of the water combined with mirror-like reflections of the mountain ridges".