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photographic images of Peking so far discovered, and are
of the utmost historical and cultural importance.
In Hong Kong, a succession of photographers opened
and closed studios, often buying and selling their pre-
decessors’ stock and negatives. As a result, attribution
of Hong Kong studio photographs from the 1860s and
1870s is often problematical. In 1860, Messrs. Weed and
Howard set up a studio together, having travelled from
California to do so. Charles Leander Weed (1824–1903)
is remembered more for his California landscape
photography and use of his mammoth-plate camera in
various parts of the world. Weed and Howard (about
whom little is known) were accompanied by Milton
Miller, who initially went along as assistant. Weed and
Howard didn’t stay long in Hong Kong and moved to
Shanghai and then to Canton, opening studios in both
places. Miller had taken over the Hong Kong studio by
January 1861, and he subsequently acquired Canton in
September at which time Weed returned to America.
Miller managed the Hong Kong studio until 1864, after
which he also probably returned home.
Miller is becoming increasingly recognised as one
of the key fi gures in early Chinese photography, even
though almost nothing is known about him or his career.
Although little of his landscape work has yet been identi-
fi ed, the genre portraits he took are celebrated for their
often jarring intensity and also for the apparent empathy
he felt for his Chinese sitters—be they coolie, mandarin,
aristocratic lady or concubine. Miller also produced an
interesting series of stereoviews of China and Japan,
published by the American fi rm E. & H. Anthony.
John Thomson (1837–1921) is also fêted as one of
the fi nest photographers of nineteenth-century China.
He left his native Scotland in 1862, and travelled to
Singapore where he began his photographic career. After
moving his studio to Hong Kong in 1868, he used that
as a base and embarked on a number of photographic
tours in China. He photographed, amongst other places,
Swatow, Amoy, and Foochow and sailed up the River
Min to the city of Yenping. In 1870–72 he visited Pe-
king and travelled up the mighty Yangtze Kiang River
from Shanghai, stopping at Nanking and then on further
upstream beyond Wuchang. His work was immortalized
in a number of his books, principal amongst which were
Foochow and the River Min (1873) and Illustrations of
China and its People (1873–74). Thomson, like Miller
before him, had respect and understanding for most of
the Chinese he encountered, and this is refl ected in his
portfolio of sympathetic and sensitive portraits. Thom-
son was an exceptionally gifted photographer—equally
adept at portraiture and landscape. He was the fi rst to
introduce the beauty of China’s inland scenery to the
West—a wonderful example being his work in and
around Foochow. Thomson left China in 1872 and
returned home.
At about this time the Chinese photographer, Lai
Afong, was establishing his reputation. Thomson him-
self was impressed: “There is one China-man in Hong
Kong, of the name Afong, who has exquisite taste,
and produces work that would enable him to make a
living even in London.” Afong assiduously and suc-
cessfully cultivated contacts amongst the foreigners in
Hong Kong. As a result, many of his photographs were
brought back to the West; they survive today and stand
testimony to an extraordinary talent in both landscape
and portraiture. He was active from ca.1859–ca.1900,
and proprietor of the longest-lived studio in the Colony.
Unfortunately, very little is known about his life, and
his work has hardly been assessed.
A contemporary of Afong’s was Tung Hing, about
whom even less is known. Like Afong and Thomson,
he produced some stunning landscape work around
Foochow and the River Min. Again, his work has yet
to be properly documented and appraised. Another
major Chinese photographer based in Hong Kong was
Cheung Mee (1890s–1920s). His work was of a very
high standard, and he was also successful in attract-
ing foreign patronage. His work was of a very high
standard. Numerous other Chinese operated studios
predominantly in the Queen’s Road area; most of these,
however, seem to have restricted their photographic
activities to portraiture.
In Shanghai the Englishman, William Saunders
(1832–92), ran a very successful studio. Opened in 1861
or 1862, it operated until at least 1887 producing quality
souvenir albums of genre portraits and views—often
fi nely handcolored. His only serious competition came
from an L.F. Fisler, about whom little is known. In the
1880s, a Chinese photographer by the name of Tai Kung
established a reputation by taking multi-plate panoramas
of the Shanghai Bund.
We should also mention two expert photographers
who spent very little time in China but who nevertheless
made important contributions to Chinese photo history.
The talented French amateur photographer and chemist,
Paul Champion (1838–??), visited China in 1865–66 in
order to collect zoological specimens. In the process, he
put together a fi ne portfolio of scenes in Shanghai and
Peking and these were published in large format and as
a stereo series immediately on his return to Paris. Wil-
helm Burger (1844–1920) was the offi cial photographer
to the Austria-Hungary Far East trade and diplomatic
mission which arrived in China in 1869. The Austrian
took a series of superb views and portraits, mainly in
Hong Kong and Shanghai. Many of these are illustrated
in Gert Rosenberg’s Wilhelm Burger (1984).
One noted commercial photographer was St. John
Edwards who operated out of Amoy from 1872 until
at least the end of the 1880s. All that is known about
him is that he produced a series of local views and also