Picturing the Chinese: Early Western Photographs and Postcards of China Book

Picturing the Chinese tells the story of Western photography in China from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Events such as the Opium War and the Boxer Rebellion provided some of the first images of China by photographers, including John Thompson and Felice Beato. This included depictions of military engagements; documentary and landscape photographs; studio portraits, picture postcards, and panoramas of Beijing; and portraits of Chinese nobility, courtesans, and convicts. Grace Lau positions this new technology of vision upon cultural themes such as exoticism, chinoiserie, and the view of China as a mysterious, perilous land. Picturing the Chinese offers a rich interplay of text and image that will engage anyone interested in the history of China and the visual arts.

Grace Lau is a London-born photographer, artist, and lecturer. Her work has been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain, and Photofusion.