Category Archives: Photographers

Trading Places, a photographic journey through China’s former Treaty Ports

Posted on May 7, 2020 by Guest

Nicholas Kitto describes the project which culminated in the recent publication of his book ‘Trading Places, A Photographic Journey Through China’s Former Treaty Ports’ (Blacksmith Books) It was quite late on 16 December 1996, and I was walking along Racecourse … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest blogs, Heritage, Photographers, Photographs in Books, Uncategorized | Tagged Kitto, photography, Treaty Port | Comments Off

A Chan (Ya Zhen) in Guangzhou

Posted on April 29, 2020 by Helena F. S. Lopes

This nice view of a commercial street in Guangzhou (Canton), that has been on the Historical Photographs of China website for a while, has been identified as the work of A Chan (雅真 Ya Zhen), an early Chinese photographer who … Continue reading →

Posted in Collections, History of photography in China, Photographers | Tagged A Chan, Canton, Guangzhou, photographer, Ya Zhen | Comments Off

The John Gurney Fry Collection: tea, silver and chocolates

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Jamie Carstairs

Jamie Carstairs, who manages the Historical Photographs of China Project, writes about a collection just added to the HPC site. Last year, an album of 124 photographs was generously donated by Richard Ambrose to the Historical Photographs of China project, care of … Continue reading →

Posted in Collections, History of photography in China, New Collections, Photographers | Tagged Foochow, Fry, Fujian, Fuzhou, Lai Fong, tea, Thomson | Comments Off

Commemorating John Thomson: Edinburgh to install a Bronze Plaque

Posted on February 28, 2020 by Jamie Carstairs

Jamie Carstairs, who manages the Historical Photographs of China Project, nominated John Thomson for a plaque in Edinburgh. The independent plaques panel at Heritage Environment Scotland (HES) announced yesterday that a plaque to commemorate the Scottish photographer John Thomson (1837-1921), is … Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage, History of photography in China, Photographers | Tagged Edinburgh, plaque, Thomson | Comments Off

Restored – the grave of pioneering travel photographer John Thomson

Posted on July 24, 2019 by Jamie Carstairs

Jamie Carstairs, who manages the Historical Photographs of China Project, reports on the tribute to the photographer John Thomson FRGS, whose grave has now been restored. John Thomson (1837-1921) is acclaimed in Martin Parr and Gerry Badger’s The Photobook: A History … Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage, History of photography in China, Photographers | Tagged grave, London, photographer, restoration, Thomson | Comments Off

Reversing Robert Capa’s gaze: Wuhan, 1938

Posted on January 11, 2019 by Robert Bickers

Ooo, look: our eagle-eyed Project Manager Jamie Carstairs spotted this wonderful photograph taken in 1938 by Robert Capa in Hankou (Wuhan) and recently published in MAGNUM China (Colin Pantall and Zheng Ziyu, eds, Thames & Hudson, 2018): This is one of … Continue reading →

Posted in History of photography in China, Photographers | Tagged Hankow, Robert Capa, Sino-Japanese War, students, Wuhan | Comments Off

‘A Darkly Mysterious Instrument’: Through China with John Thomson

Posted on July 6, 2018 by Andrew Hillier

Dr Andrew Hillier discusses the China photographs of John Thomson (1837-1921) in the light of a recent exhibition of his work at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS. One of two hundred images published in John Thomson’s Illustrations of China and its … Continue reading →

Posted in Exhibition, Guest blogs, History of photography in China, Photographers | Tagged exhibition, SOAS, Thomson | Comments Off

Restoring John Thomson’s grave

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Jamie Carstairs

Jamie Carstairs, Historical Photographs of China Project manager, has joined the committee seeking to restore photographer John Thomson’s grave. Here he explains why. An ad hoc group has come together to try to raise the funds needed to restore the … Continue reading →

Posted in Collections, Exhibition, Heritage, Photographers | Tagged china, exhibition, fund, grave, photographer, Siam, Thomson | Comments Off

‘With a Camera in Yunnan’: the Ethnographic Expeditions of Fred W. Carey, RGS #2

Posted on April 27, 2018 by Andrew Hillier

PART 2 – COLLECTING AND DISPLAY In this second blog, Dr Andrew Hillier explores how the International Exhibition in Paris (1900) provided this young Customs man with the opportunity to collect local costumes in Yunnan but how their acquisition and … Continue reading →

Posted in Collections, Guest blogs, Photographers | Tagged Carey, Chinese Maritime Customs Service, customs, ethnography, Royal Geographical Society, Semao, Shan, Szemao, Yunnan | Comments Off

‘With a Camera in Yunnan’: the Ethnographic Expeditions of Frederic W. Carey, RGS #1

Posted on March 29, 2018 by Andrew Hillier

Drawing on a collection of photographs taken in Yunnan at the turn of the twentieth century, in this, the first of two blogs, Dr Andrew Hillier discusses what these images tell us about ‘the imperial gaze’ and the mind-set of … Continue reading →