This paper aims to undertake a semiotic analysis to examine the shift in narrative style and the interpretation of visual elements in Pahari miniature painting and nineteenth-century portrait photography of the WHR. The paper examines the visual objects, icons, and symbols from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from these regions. The primary source material was procured from public and private collections, local families, museums, and libraries (online and offline). The analysis focused on content analysis of elements such as objects, signs, and their interpretation in design culture. The results revealed deeper insights into the symbolic meanings of the frame's content. This paper also explores portraiture as a visual methodology (Straka in Structuring arts-based analysis in portraiture research 20(1):76–85, 2020). The study's findings provide valuable insight into how the semiotics and iconography in the representation have evolved; it also explores the significance of ethnographic photographs as a route to trace material culture.