John Thomson (photographer)

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John Thomson with Chinese soldiers. Self-recording, 1871

John Thomson (born June 14, 1837 in Edinburgh , † September 30, 1921 in London ) was a Scottish pioneer of photography.

Life

The son of tobacco worker William Thomson completed an apprenticeship as an optician until 1858. He had learned the basics of photography and attended evening classes at the Watt Institution and School of Arts . In 1861 he became a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts . In 1862 he moved to Singapore to live with his brother William , where he set up a studio in which he photographed European merchants.

In 1865 he made his first major photo tour to Bangkok , where he portrayed King Mongkut , and to Cambodia , where he was the first to photograph the ruins of Angkor . The following year he published the pictures in England, gave lectures and became a member of the Royal Geographical Society .

In 1867 he moved his studio to Hong Kong and traveled through China for the next five years: from Canton via the southern treaty ports to Beijing , and on via Formosa and the east coast 2000 kilometers on the Yangtze River inland. He photographed landscapes, interiors, working people and mandarins .

In 1869 he was commissioned to photograph the royal visit of the Duke of Edinburgh. His photos were published in Reverend William R. Beach's book Visit of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh to Hong Kong in 1869 . In 1872 he returned to England and published several illustrated books.

In 1877 his social documentary series of images of London street life appeared in several deliveries, which mainly portrayed the simple population living in poverty. The study comprised a total of 36 photographs, which were accompanied by a longer commentary text that he had written together with the socialist journalist Adolphe Smith (formerly Adolphe Smith Headingley).

In the autumn of 1878 he toured the newly acquired colony of Cyprus , which led to his last two-volume work with 59 Woodbury types .

He mainly worked with collodion wet plates . After his death, a summit of Kilimanjaro , Point Thomson (4995 m), was named after him.

Works

John Thomson: Manchu Bride, 1871
  • The Antiquities of Cambodia: A Series of Photographs Taken on the Spot ; 1867
  • Foochow and the River Min ; 1873
  • Illustrations of China and Its People ; 1873/74
  • The Straits of Malacca, Indo-China and China: Or, Ten Years' Travel, Adventures, and Residence Abroad ; 1875
  • John Thomson, Adolphe Smith: Street Life in London, Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, London 1877; from February published in twelve monthly partial deliveries. First complete German edition based on an original from the Lebeck collection: Street-life in London, Die Bibliophilen Taschenbücher, Harenberg, Dortmund 1981, ISBN 3-88379-217-9 . ( Online at Google Books a complete new edition, the published by Dover in London under the title Victorian London Street Life in Historic Photographs in 1994, ISBN 978-0486281216 .)
  • Through Cyprus with the Camera in the Autumn of 1878 ; 1879
  • Through China with a Camera , 1898

literature

  • Richard Ovenden: John Thomson (1837-1921): Photographer, National Library of Scotland, Stationery Office, 1997, ISBN 978-0-1149-5833-6 . English.
  • Betty Yao: China: Through the Lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872, exhibition catalog Beijing World Art Museum, River Books, Thailand 2010, ISBN 978-6167339009 . English.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.answers.com/topic/john-thomson-5
  2. ↑ http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0115%2FY3038B;sib0=428
  3. ↑ Inventory entry in the online catalog British Library of Political and Economic Science . Here is a monthly publication of
  4. ^ Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-century Photography by John Hannavy
  5. ↑ http://academic.reed.edu/formosa/texts/thomsonbio.html

Web links

Commons : John Thomson (photographer)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Thomson, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish pioneer of photography
DATE OF BIRTH June 14, 1837
PLACE OF BIRTH Edinburgh
DATE OF DEATH September 30, 1921
Place of death London