Macao
ca. 1869
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 7 9/16 × 11 3/16 in. (19.2 × 28.4 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Purchase, Robert Rosenkranz Gift, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.494.71
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the bustling Portuguese enclave of Macao around 1869, Scottish photographer John Thomson captured the essence of this East-West trading hub in his albumen silver print *Macao*. Thomson, a pioneering traveler and documentarian, ventured through China and Southeast Asia during mid-19th century, some of the earliest photographic records of these regions. This image likely depicts the city's architectural blend of colonial facades, narrow streets, and harbor activity, offering visitors a window into a pivotal node of global commerce amid the Opium Wars' aftermath. Thomson's work exemplifies ea...
About the Artist
John Thomson · 1837–1921
John Thomson (1837–1921), a pioneering Scottish photographer, was born on 14 June 1837 in Edinburgh as the eighth of nine children to William Thomson, a tobacco spinner and trader, and Isabella Newlands.) After schooling in the early 1850s, he apprenticed with a local optical and scientific instrument manufacturer, where he mastered the principles of photography, completing his training around 185...