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| The John Thomson Collection |
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| Artist : | John Thomson |
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| Date : | 4 December, 2002 - 10 February, 2003 |
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| Press Release |
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Attn: Art Editors
A VERY SPECIAL EXHIBITION OF 19TH CENTURY PHOTOGRAPHS OF HONG KONG, CHINA AND THE FAR EAST FROM THE WELLCOME TRUST, LONDON
The John Thomson Collection of Photographs shown at 10 Chancery Lane Gallery
December 2002-January 2003 HONG KONG-- The John Thomson Far East photographs, taken from 1862, are said to be one of the best records of a world and way of life, which was shortly to disappear, and represents possibly the most important visual archive of the region in existence today. The 10 Chancery Lane Gallery will exhibit the photographs from December 4, 2002 through to the end of January 2003.
John Thomson was born in Edinburgh in 1837. In 1862, he made his first journey to the Far East where he set up a photographic studio. However, he soon realised that there were far more interesting subjects for his art outside the studio and began to travel extensively throughout the local countryside, photographing people as they were, at work or at rest in their own environment. It is Thomson’s empathy that was to dominate his work until his death in 1921. Whether his subject was a beggar or a king, he attempted to capture the individual behind the veneer of social status, thus reflecting his own very deep social values and personal identity.
He set up studio in Hong Kong and began to make plans for an enormous circuit of the Chinese mainland. In his first year in Hong Kong, Thomson set about earning a living and issued numerous albums of his photographs, depicting scenes in and around Hong Kong ,which today represent his most fascinating work.
The 10 Chancery Lane Gallery is proud to bring to Hong Kong the John Thomson Collection of superb portraits and landscapes of a magical time. The subjects span portraits of noblemen and gamblers, lady’s maids and street merchants, boatmen and court officials as well as monasteries, tombs, the wide cosmopolitan boulevards of Shanghai and Beijing and the upper reaches of the Yangtze.
The collection is printed from the original glass-plate negatives in the possession of the Wellcome Trust in London. There are also a few vintage prints in the exhibition.
The press is invited to a cocktail reception on Wednesday December 4, 2002 from 6-9pm. For more images for printing in the press please contact Cleo Lam at 2810-0065.
The John Thomson Collection
Fine 19th Century Photographs of Hong Kong, China and the Far East
December 4, 2002-January 25, 2003
10 Chancery Lane Gallery
(Just behind Central Police Station, off Old Bailey Street)
Opening Hours: Tuesday-Friday 11-7pm, Saturdays 11:30-6pm |
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