[Panorama of Hong Kong]
ca. 1869
![[Panorama of Hong Kong] by John Thomson](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/panorama-of-hong-kong-289319.webp)
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image(a): 10 5/8 × 8 13/16 in. (27 × 22.4 cm) Image(b): 10 1/2 × 8 13/16 in. (26.6 × 22.4 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Purchase, Robert Rosenkranz Gift, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.494.47
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the bustling harbor of 19th-century Hong Kong John Thomson's *Panorama of Hong Kong* (ca. 1869), a stunning pair of albumen silver prints capturing the city's dynamic skyline. This Scottish photographer and pioneering explorer created these images during his extensive travels across Asia, documenting everyday life and landscapes with remarkable clarity. The panoramic format—measuring about 10½ × 8¾ inches each—sweeps across Victoria Harbour, revealing a tapestry of steep hills, clustered boats, and emerging colonial architecture, evoking the port's role as a thriving trade hub. Thom...
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...