Scottish Photographer John Thompson, born in 1837 and grew up in Edinburgh. His education was focused on Natural Philosophy. The majority of John Thomson’s photographic work was produced using what is known as the ‘wet-collodion’, glass plate negative process.
In 1862, Thomson moved to Singapore, where he lived with his brother, a watchmaker and photographer. He began his work documenting the destruction caused by recent cyclones in Ceylon and India.
He continued to travel Asia, photographing the King of Cambodia and King of Siam. Returning to England in 1866, he lectured on Ethnography and published his book on Cambodia. The next year, he returned to Singapore then explored Asia until he finally settling in Hong Kong in 1868. Here, he began his project of photographing the people of China.
Thomson’s photographs fall into two broad categories: scenic views and types. Views encompassed both natural landscapes and built environments. He photographed the various classes, from royalty to laborers and examined unusual and exotic subjects.
Photographed Chinese laborers and punishments to create an exotic view of the east. His practice included pictures of rickshaws, sedan chairs, people in traditional dress, and people in “the Cangue” (a wood neckpiece worn for punishment).
Thompson returned to London, where he collaborating from with social activist Adolphe Smith in producing the monthly Street Life in London (February 1877 – January 1878).
His final photographic series on the Street Life in London documented the fruit sellers, cab drivers, nomads and others in London who sold, provided services, or lived on the streets. The purpose, to document objectively without omission or exaggeration.
The photographs were accompanied by detailed captions of what these people did and how they made their living. “The crawler, …, whose portrait is now before the reader, is the widow of a tailor who died some ten years ago. She had been living with her son-in-law, a marble stone-polisher by trade, who is now in difficulties through ill-health. It appears, however, that, at best, “he never cared much for his work,” and innumerable quarrels ensued between him, his wife, his mother-in-law, and his brother-in-law, a youth of fifteen. At last, after many years of wrangling, the mother, finding that her presence aggravated her daughter’s troubles, left this uncomfortable home, and with her young son descended penniless into the street. From that day she fell lower and lower, and now takes her seat among the crawlers of the district.
Sources
Stephenson, Samuel. Biography of Thomson, John. [accessed via: Formosa http://cdm.reed.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/formosa&CISOPTR=1683&REC=1]
Hockley, Allen. “Illustrations of China and Its People, Photo Albums.” MIT Visualizing Cultures. Accessed September 15, 2015.
“The Photographs of John Thompson.” Digital Gallery. Accessed September 15, 2015.
Street Life in London, Thompson, John [accessed via: London School of Economics library site: http://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/collections/streetlifeinlondon]
