Several generations of a wealthy Chinese family sit in front of a moon gate where calligraphy scrolls have been hung, taken by unidentified photographer (1875). Taken from The Face of China as Seen by Photographers and Travelers --1860-1912, L. Carrington-Goodrich and Nigel Cameron, ed. Aperture Inc., 1978
It was around a century and a half ago that the world cast its eyes
on the first photographic image. In spite of her isolation from the West, China
was not to remain unaware of the new art form: the contraptions taken
by the first reporters to visit the Middle Kingdom intrigued the Chinese while also leaving
them dumbfounded. On the other side of the world, European photographers were also
quick to appreciate the appeal of Oriental exotica. It was in Macau that Jules Itier, a
contemporary of Daguerre and a pioneering reporter, took the first photographs of China.
Opposite: "Physic Street" in Canton, John Thompson (1868). Taken from The Face of China as Seen by Photographers and Travelers --1860-1912, L. Carrington-Goodrich and Nigel Cameron, ed. Aperture Inc., 1978
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