1283
but then as the medium became more complex, it was
necessary for a more disciplined approach to exploring
its complexities. The Société héliographique published
reviews, held discussions and exhibitions related to pro-
moting the technique, and served as a model for future
organizations. The society still remains an important
step in the evolution of the photographic medium.
Kristen Gresh
See also: Calotype and Talbotype; Société
héliographique Française; La Lumière; Mission
Héliographique; Montfort, Benito de; Gros,
Baron Jean-Baptiste Louis; Bayard, Hippolyte;
Becquerel, Edmond Alexandre; Delessert, Edouard
and Benjamin; Durieu, Jean-Louis-Marie-Eugène;
Mestral, Auguste; de Laborde, Henri; Niépce de
Saint-Victor, Claude Félix Abel ; Ziegler, Jules; Le
Gray, Gustave; Delacroix, Ferdinand Victor Eugène;
Wey, Francis; Le Secq, Henri; and Fenton, Roger.
Further Reading
De Mondenard, Anne, La Mission Heliographique: Cinq photo-
graphes parcourent la France en 1851, Paris: Centre des mo-
numents nationaux/Monum, Editions du patrimoine, 2002.
Frizot, Michel (ed.), La Nouvelle Histoire de la Photographie,
Paris: Bordas, 1994 (translation: A New History of Photogra-
phy, Cologne: Könemann, 1998).
Jammes, André and Janis, Eugenia Parry, The Art of French
Calotype with a Critical Dictionary of Photographers,
1845—1870, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983.
Pare, Richard, ed., Photography and Architecture: 1839–1939,
Montréal: Canadian Center for Architecture, 1982.
SOCIETIES, GROUPS, INSTITUTIONS,
AND EXHIBITIONS IN ASIA
(EXCLUDING INDIA)
The photographical technique was a blend of various
inventions stemming from diverse origins. Soon after
its fi rst public circulation in August 1839, photography
freely entered the commercial fi eld. The ability, open
to everyone, to daguerreotype was the key to success.
Photography then spread through Europe, America and
few years later throughout the world. The spread of
photography in Asia, as elsewhere, does not only come
from the novelty of the process. It also benefi ted from
the commercial expansion of western countries through
eastbound sea routes and fi rst appears in Asia in coastal
towns open o foreign trade.
Photography also reached the orient with the vari-
ous diplomatic or military expeditions, as they often
included an amateur or a professional photographer.
Soon, many adventurers, attracted by the chance of
fortune, would try to establish photographic studios
in Asia. Singapore—fi rst trading post in 1819, then
crown colony in 1867—had its fi rst documented pho-
tographer in 1843. The economic growth of the colony
attracted many studios such as August Sachtler, 1863,
and G.R. Lambert & Co, 1867. The enthusiasm of the
foreign community both drew new photographers to
Singapore and urged them to get organized. The fi rst
offi cial society was the Strait Photographic Associa-
tion, created in 1887 at Hill Street. The fi rst president
was D.C. Neave, founder o the F&N Company. As
soon as 1894, members of this association took part
in international photographic competitions and won
prizes in Jakarta.
In the same period, China was compelled to open
Canton (Guangzhou), Amoy (Xiamen), Foochow
(Fuzhou), Ningpo (Ningbo), and Shanghai to foreign
trade and cede Hong Kong, following the signature of
the Treaty of Nanking on 29 August 1842. It allowed
British merchants to establish “spheres of infl uence”
in and around the ports and permitted the installation
of occidental newcomers (merchants, soldiers, trad-
ers, diplomats, adventurers etc.) and with them along
came photography. Jules Itier took the fi rst documented
daguerreotypes of Macau and Canton in 1844. He was
a member of the French embassy of Théodose de La-
grenée, who signed the treaty of Whampoa (24 October
1844) between France and China.
The arrival of photography depended on the opening
to foreign trade of the coastal owns of southern China.
However the fi rst photographers society was founded
only in 1937, it was The Photographic Society of Hong
Kong. It also followed the route of military expeditions,
as the armies took photographers along. Felice Beato
would go further in land in 1860, taking pictures in the
trail of the Anglo-French force, which invaded Peking
and burnt the famous Summer Palace.
Photography reached Japan in much the same way.
From 1853 onward, Japan, closed to all foreign trade
since 1639, started to open its ports under the pressure
of western countries. Ports as Yokohama, Nagasaki, or
Kobe were then open to westerners. The fi rst known da-
guerreotype of Japan dates from 1857, but professional
studios appear only a few years later. Charles Wirgman,
sent to Japan as a correspondent of The Illustrated
London News as soon as 1861, invited Felice Beato to
join him in 1863. Together, they founded in 1865 their
fi rst commercial venture, a studio in Yokohama. It is
signifi cant that when the second owners of this fi rm
were still westerners, Stillfried & Andersen, the next
one was a Japanese, Kusakabe Kimbei.
The further improvement of photographical tech-
niques increasingly mastered by Japanese would foster
amateur practice. The fi rst society, the Nihon Shashinkai
was created in 1889 by William Burton, a professor
at Tokyo’s imperial university, Ogawa Kazumasa,
and other native and foreign photographers. Ogawa’s
friend, Japanese Viscount N. Okabe was an amateur