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LAI AFONG (active 1850s–1890s)
Although almost nothing is known about his personal
life, Lai Afong will probably be remembered as the
most signifi cant Chinese photographer of the nineteenth
century. Afong, as he preferred to be known, opened his
fi rst studio in Hong Kong in around 1859 and continued
to operate it until ca. 1900. He assiduously cultivated
foreign clientele, employing a succession of foreign as-
sistants such as William Lentz and D.K. Griffi th to help
him do so. John Thomson spoke highly of his work in
his 1875 book, The Straits of Malacca, Indo-China &
China: “...a man of cultivated taste, and imbued with
a wonderful appreciation of art...his pictures, besides
being extremely well executed, are remarkable for
their artistic choice of position.” By the 1870s Afong’s
advertisements proclaimed him as photographer: “By
appointment to H.E. Sir Arthur Kennedy, Governor of
Hong Kong, and H.I.H. The Grand Duke Alexis of Rus-
sia.” He accumulated an impressive portfolio of views
from all over China claiming, in 1897, to have more than
any other Far-Eastern studio. Apart from his excellent
portraiture, he is known for his dramatic views of the
1874 Hong Kong Typhoon and for an exquisite album
of Foochow scenery, a copy of which is held by the
Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh.
Terry Bennett
LAMBERT & CO., G.R. (1867–1918)
German-born, commercial photographers of
Singapore and Malaya
The fi rst known mention of Singapore photographers,
G.R. Lambert and Company, was an advertisement
(dated 10th April 1867) that appeared in a May edition
of the Singapore Daily Times announcing the opening
of a “Photographic Establishment” at 1 High Street.
The island of Singapore, which lies off the South-
ern tip of the Malay Peninsula, was established by Sir
Stamford Raffl es and became a trading post under the
East India Company in 1819. It was incorporated with
Penang and Malacca to form the Straits Settlements in
1826 and came under British colonial rule in 1867, the
same year as Lambert’s announcement.
Lambert was a German from Dresden and may of
been connected with the Lambert Brothers’ carriage
makers, undertakers, and masons, who were well es-
tablished in Singapore.
It appears that at some time after his initial advertise-
ment Lambert returned to Europe, it is not clear whether
his fi rst studio failed or not, but another announcement
ten years later (in May 1877) told of his return to Sin-
gapore, with a studio at 30 Orchard Road (opposite
Lambert Brothers’ Carriage Works). Interestingly, this
advertisement stated that photographs [portraits] were
taken daily 7a.m.–11am. It was probably too warm for
portraiture after this time. The Orchard Road premises
had previously been briefl y occupied by another German
photographer, G.A. Schleeselmann, who, in turn, had
purchased the negatives of former occupant and fellow
countryman, Henry Schuren.
By 1878 Lambert had moved studio again, this time
to 430 Orchard Road, where he advertised a new col-
lection of Singapore ‘views and types.’ Lambert visited
Siam (Thailand) in late 1879 and returned in February
1880 after being appointed offi cial photographer to the
King of Siam.
In fact Lambert & Co. were to become the “offi cial”
photographers of South East Asia; they recorded major
royal and political visits, government buildings, plus
social and sporting events, along with formal portraits
of ministers and merchants.
Lambert’s studio portraits were mainly comprised of
commissioned studies depicting European merchants
and their families, as well as local dignitaries. However,
there was another body of work that showed native or
racial types and these more exotic studies were aimed
at the tourist market
In the early and mid 1880s much of the Singapore stu-
dios’ output by was undertaken by manager, J.C. Van Es
and assistant Alexander Koch, who became a partner in- Around this time Lambert himself seems to have
returned to Europe leaving the running of the business
in the trusted hands of Van Es and Koch.