Category Archives: Photographers

Charles Frederick Moore’s photographs of the ruins of the European-style palaces (西洋楼) at the Yuanmingyuan (圆明园)

Posted on May 15, 2022 by Jamie Carstairs

Jamie Carstairs (Senior Digitisation Officer, Special Collections, University of Bristol Library) is researching the work of Charles Frederick Moore (1838-1916), and here discusses Moore’s photographs of the ruins of the European-style, baroque palaces at the Yuanmingyuan. When the vast and … Continue reading →

Posted in Digitisation, Heritage, History of photography in China, Photographers, Visualisation | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Charles Frederick Moore’s photographs of the ruins of the European-style palaces (西洋楼) at the Yuanmingyuan (圆明园)

Jamie Carstairs on Remembering John Thomson in Edinburgh

Posted on October 8, 2021 by Jamie Carstairs

Last week a plaque was unveiled on John Thomson’s childhood home in Edinburgh, Scotland, in his centenary year. How did it get there? In 2018, the John Thomson Commemoration Group* formed to restore John Thomson’s grave in south London. During … Continue reading →

Posted in Exhibition, History of photography in China, Photographers | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Jamie Carstairs on Remembering John Thomson in Edinburgh

The Five Faces of Dr Walter Medhurst, D.D.

Posted on November 12, 2020 by Andrew Hillier

Andrew Hillier considers how five portraits of the London Missionary Society (LMS) missionary, Walter H. Medhurst (1796-1857), one of which can be found on HPC, made over the course of his career, were used to maintain connections and promote the … Continue reading →

Posted in Family photography, Guest blogs, Photographers, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Five Faces of Dr Walter Medhurst, D.D.

Ruins of Macau in Historical Photographs of China collections – part one

Posted on September 18, 2020 by Helena F. S. Lopes

Dr. Helena F. S. Lopes is a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow at the Department of History, University of Bristol. This posting is part one of three-part series on the ruins of Macau. The South China territory of Macau (澳門) … Continue reading →

Posted in Collections, Heritage, Photographers | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Ruins of Macau in Historical Photographs of China collections – part one

Guest post: Spaniards in the treaty ports: Archivo China-España and Juan Mencarini

Posted on June 25, 2020 by Guest

Our latest post comes from Xavier Ortells-Nicolau, an adjunct professor at the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and English Studies, Universitat de Barcelona. His recent work has focused on images of China in late nineteenth and early twentieth century … Continue reading →

Posted in cross-searching, Guest blogs, History of photography in China, Photographers | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Guest post: Spaniards in the treaty ports: Archivo China-España and Juan Mencarini

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 , , | Comments Off on Trading Places, a photographic journey through China’s former Treaty Ports

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 , , , , | Comments Off on A Chan (Ya Zhen) in Guangzhou

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 , , , , , , | Comments Off on The John Gurney Fry Collection: tea, silver and chocolates

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 History of photography in China, Photographers | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Commemorating John Thomson: Edinburgh to install a Bronze Plaque

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 , , , , | Comments Off on Restored – the grave of pioneering travel photographer John Thomson