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tographers, following pioneers Felice Beato and John
Thomson.
Child, who largely concentrated on photographing
Peking and the north of China, produced around 200
images depicting the architecture of the city, along with
some portrait studies. They formed a series entitled “In
and Around Peking” and were largely made between
1875–77.
Child appears to have combined his photography with
his position an engineer. His pictures were produced
commercially, mounted on card with printed descriptive
labels on the reverse and his name often appears marked
in the negative, along with a date. His 10x8 inch albumen
prints were well-composed and full of detail but lacked
the visual quality of Thomson’s work. His documenta-
tion of Peking was probably the most complete of any
Far Eastern city in the mid 1870’s.
He returned to London with his family in the early
1880’s.
Ian Charles Sumner
CHILE
In 1840, the ship L’Orientale docked in Valparaiso,
Chile. Aboard were French and Belgian students on a
worldwide tour. Also aboard was daguerreotype equip-
ment, belonging to Louis Compte, the ship’s chaplain.
A propós of the arrival of L’Orientale, a Valparaiso
newspaper reprinted an article that had previously ap-
peared in a Montevideo newspaper, on the subject of the
daguerreotype process. Unfortunately, the L’Orientale
sank shortly after its arrival and it was several years
before Chileans became acquainted with this new
marvel.
By the mid-1840s both foreign and native-born
photographers were active in Chile. In 1845 the Helsby
brothers (William, Thomas and John), two of whom
were born in Argentina and one in England, arrived in
Chile and operated successful studios in both Valparaiso
and Santiago until the 1860s. William also traveled
and photographed in other Latin American countries,
including Uruguay and Argentina. Due to the quality
and quantity of his daguerreotypes, he is considered
the “grand old man” of the daguerreotype in Chile. The
Helsby studio location was eventually owned by Carlos
Rowsell, who for a time was engaged in a business
collaboration with the famed Courret Hermanos studio
in Perú. In 1854 Victor Deroche a Frenchman, opened
a studio in Santiago. Several years later, Deroche and
photographer Augusto Beauboef, traveled throughout
Chile with the goal of producing the country’s fi rst
photographic survey. Their work was published as Viaje
Pintoresco a Través de la República (1856).
The fi rst native-born Chilean photographer José
Dolores Fuenzalida, began working in 1844 in part-
nership with Philogone Daviette and a Mr. Hulliel,
and later opened his own studios in Valparaiso and
Santiago. In the midst of a commercially successful
career, Fuenzalida bought the famed Helsby brothers
studio. This purchase led to an acrimonious legal battle
with one of the Helsby brothers. Possibly weary of the
protracted litigation, Fuenzalida died in 1857 at the age
of forty-seven, after which his studio was managed for
a time by his son Manuel Fuenzalida.
North American photographers active in Chile
included Charles and Jacob Ward who arrived in Val-
paraiso in 1844, and were commercially successful due
to the quality of their portraits. Their studio location was
later occupied by compatriot Robert Vance who had
studios in Santiago and Valparaiso between 1847–1850.
Vance was one of the fi rst daguerreotypists to work in
the silver mining district of Copiapó in the Atacama
Desert, and this experience may have infl uenced his
decision to later leave Chile and sail north to photograph
the California gold rush. The silver boom in Copiapó
attracted a number of photographers including Esteban
Adaro and Jorge Inchaurrandieta, as well as Enrique
Dohrn who also owned a studio in Lima, Perú.
Arthur Terry arrived from New York via Perú in
1853 and several years later announced the availability
of photographs on paper and “metal.” Terry was an as-
sociate of Chilean photographer Cipriano Clavijo. The
latter also worked with Jacinto Pedevill (or Pedevilla)
and Ricardo Tosell. Among those who pioneered in the
area of ethnic photography in Chile were the Frenchman
Gustavo Milet (Millet) and the Canadian Obder Heffer.
While managing studios in other locations, they also
photographed the Mapuche people in the south of Chile.
Salomón Adolfo Alexander, a German immigrant and
his compatriot a Mr. Boehme, pioneered in the produc-
tion of images on paper. He also recorded panoramic
views of Valparaiso and Copiapó. He later relocated to
Argentina where he and his descendants operated several
prominent studios.
The Frenchman Pedro Emilio Garreaud, arrived in
Chile via Perú in the early 1860s and managed a number
of commercially successful studios. In association with
Pedro Adams, Garreaud produced photo albums of Pata-
gonia (1874) and Santa Lucia (1875). After Garreaud’s
death in 1875, his brother-in-law, Félix Leblanc operated
the Garreaud studio with Esteban Adaro as his partner. In
1890, Leblanc sold his studio to Obder Heffer. Leblanc
went on to publish his photographs as lithographs and
photogravures and is remembered for his images of the
Valparaiso earthquake (1906).
The Guerra del Pacífi co (1879–82) between Chile
against Perú and Bolivia was ably recorded by North
American photographer Edward Spencer and his associ-
ate Carlos Díaz Escudero. Their work during the war,
marks them as pioneers in the area of photojournalism