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B+WA new book charts the story of an extraordinary explorer and photographer.
Isabella Bird was one of the best-selling travel writers of her day. In this
extract, we look at the importance of photography to her.
INSPIRATION
TRAVELS THROUGH CHINA
Village on the Yangtze.I
sabella Lucy Bird was one of
the most remarkable and high
profile travellers of the
Victorian age, with a reputation
for tenacity and curiosity. She
travelled widely in Canada,
America, Hawaii, Japan, Malaysia,
Persia, Kurdistan, Morocco, Tibet,
Korea and China.
Her travels began in 1854 and
her last one was in 1901. As a
writer and photographer she
recounted her remarkable
experiences to a devoted
readership; whether climbing
volcanoes or washing her
photographic plates in the
waters of the Yangtze.Photography became an
‘intense pleasure’ for her and was
something she pursued even
under very challenging conditions.
She describes the feeling
photography gave her in a letter to
her publisher, John Murray,
written as she was preparing to
return from the Far East in 1897:
‘I must confess that nothing
ever took such hold of me as
photography has done. If I felt
sure to follow my inclination I
should give my whole time to it.’
The joy she experienced when
creating a photographic print
was something she wanted to
share with others, regardless ofrank or status, from the itinerant
trackers employed to haul her
boat up the Yangtze rapids, who
initially thought she kept a black
devil in the camera, to members
of the Church Mission Society
with whom she stayed, using
their guest bedrooms as
improvised darkrooms.I
sabella’s ability to produce high
quality negatives in the field
gives an indication of the level
of her skills. She could produce
film negatives with great success,
and was using them in the
rarefied air of the slopes around
the village of Mia-ko, where thePortrait of Isabella Bird taken in
Edinburgh by Elliot and Fry.40-42_ISABELLA_BIRD_175 ER/MB.indd 4040-42_ISABELLA_BIRD_175 ER/MB.indd 40 02/03/2015 12:1902/03/2015 12:19