What were the early photography activities?

British artillery destroyed the authority of Emperor China and forced the Chinese Empire to contact the world on the ground.

Photography, an exotic product, also spread in China with foreign photographers coming to China to shoot.

Since then, photography has entered the lives of ordinary people in China, even in the heavily guarded court.

First, the first foreigner to take pictures in China.

Jules, a Frenchman, was the first person to bring photography to China. 1844, as a French customs prosecutor, came to China with a French trade delegation to participate in the Sino-French negotiations on the Huangpu Treaty.

During their stay in China, the Egyptians took portraits of the representatives of the two countries by means of silver plate photography. They are the French representative, Rasini, and the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, senior citizens. Later, Jiao Ying mentioned in his memorial to the emperor that he had exchanged "small photos" with the envoys of Britain, France, the United States and Portugal. This photo was taken by an Egyptian, only five years after Daguerre's photography was published, and it is the earliest photo taken in China.

In addition, he also photographed many city scenery and street scenes in Guangzhou, Macao and Hong Kong. In Guangzhou, he took photos of the pier and the city, the portrait of Pan Shicheng, the comprador of the foreign firm, and photos of his courtyard and villa.

Egypt returned to France in June 1845. Some of his photos taken in China were published in French newspapers from 1848 to 1853, and some of them were included in the French Photography History published by 1920.

This batch of Egyptian silver-printed photos taken in China, as well as his own explanatory text, are now kept in the Photography Museum on the outskirts of Paris, with a total of 36 photos. These photos are cherished and collected by people because of their precious historical value.

Second, Rosen filmed with the American fleet.

During the period of 1854, Rosen, an early photographer in China and assistant of American photographer I Brown, interviewed Japan for half a year with the fleet led by Madden Berry, commander of the American East India Fleet.

1August 7, 854, Rosen returned to Hong Kong. In the form of a diary, he published his interview with the American fleet in the Hong Kong Chinese monthly "Far and Near".

Rosen wrote in his diary that he stayed in Shimoda for a month and visited and filmed in Da 'anji several times. At that time, Japanese technology was still very backward, even worse than China. People know almost nothing about photography. Rosen also wrote that one of the gifts given to Japan by the United States was a camera. When local officials and people saw it, "many people were surprised." These written records are rare notes of early photographers.

Three. Bite's field documentary photography

Felici Beto was born in Venice. As a war photographer, Peter took part in the war photography of World War II. 1860, he came to China and took many photos. These photos are still often used by countries today. Therefore, Peter is known as "one of the pioneers of military report photography".

Bite's filming activities in China are recorded in foreign materials:

When European soldiers savagely retaliated against China for China's refusal to strengthen trade treaties after the Opium War, a lucky photographer named Felice Bitter was there. ...

He followed the British and French expeditionary forces into Beijing and took some unforgettable and sad photos of the imperial city like a fortress and the bodies piled up along the way. French soldiers killed in a defensive mission lie on a fortress castle, next to their original soil cannons and crossbows.

Peter stayed in China for only one year, but he left behind many works of historical value. For example, the lost Dagu Fort (photographed in August/860 by/kloc-0), zhenhai tower in Guangzhou under the allied occupation (photographed in April/860 by/kloc-0), and the allied station in Beijing (photographed in June/860 by/kloc-0).

Fourth, the old China in Thomson's lens.

1873, a photo album named China and her people was published in Britain. John thomson (1837 ~ 192 1), born in Edinburgh, is a famous "street photographer" in Britain. This photo album contains 200 photos taken by him during his two visits to China 1862 and 1869.

China and Her People fully reflects all aspects of China society. Among them, there are not only works that show the beautiful rivers and mountains and urban scenery in China, but also scenes where people are engaged in productive labor and daily life; There are both comprador private gardens by foreign firms and the living conditions at the bottom of society. The characters shown in these photos are representative to some extent: Prince Gong, aristocratic women, poor people who are employed in the market, opium addicts, thin night watchman, prisoners with wooden shackles, craftsmen such as shaving, pedicure and foreign movies, all of which have become the targets of Thomson's shooting.

Each photo in the album is accompanied by a detailed text description, which was recorded when shooting. For example, in the photo "The former site of an old factory in Guangdong", the foreign-style buildings are in sharp contrast with the dilapidated straw houses around them.

Shooting street scenes is Thomson's specialty. "A Corner of the Downtown of Guangzhou" and "Street Scenery of Jiujiang" reflect this point well. The former shows the prosperity of shops and plaques in Guangzhou business district with vertical lines occupying the picture. The latter selected four representative vendors in the street, and through ingenious composition and light application, showed a picture scroll with China characteristics.

In addition, during his stay in China, Thomson published two photo collections, Scenery of Beijiang River and Scenery of Minjiang River, which played a certain role in expanding the influence of photography in China.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) Qing palace photography

In the early days when photography was introduced to China, it was once regarded as "strange skill and cunning" and "heresy" by the rulers of Qing Dynasty. Therefore, photography is strictly prohibited in the Forbidden City, and it is difficult for photographic equipment and photographers to enter the palace. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that the situation changed slightly. Empress Dowager Cixi was attracted by the cleverness of photography in her later years and used it for fun. So, a man named Yu Xunling was called into the palace to take pictures of Cixi.

Yu Xun, Zhengbaiqi people, Han army. His father, Duke Yu Geng, served as a diplomat in his early years and sent missions to Japan and France. Yu Xunling lived abroad with her parents, brothers and sisters and received western education. While studying in the French Army School, he began to learn photography and took some news photos. At the end of 1902, Yu Xunling returned to Beijing with his full set of photographic equipment.

1903, Yu Xunling entered the DPRK and became a photographer for Cixi. Because Cixi loves to take pictures, she gives special treatment to the age of honor. Because kneeling can't reach the camera, Cixi specifically told him not to kneel when taking pictures. At the same time, he is nearsighted and can't face the light without glasses. Cixi chartered him to wear glasses (it is a rule in the palace not to wear glasses in front of Cixi).

During his tenure as a court photographer, Yu Xunling took many "royal photos" for Cixi. These photos are divided into three types: one is a full-length photo of a single person, some are wearing royal clothes, and some are wearing casual clothes. The second is a photo of Gong Wei's life. Third, make-up entertainment photos, some taken indoors, some taken by boat on the water, with different characters and different scenes. Most of Cixi's makeup photos are dressed as Guanyin, and the brand of "Master Guanyin of Putuo Mountain" is nailed on the set or screen.

Cixi often shows off when taking pictures. In the archives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the 29th year of Guangxu (1903), there is a message handed down from ancient times by Cixi for taking makeup photos:

Take a photo in the sea on July 16. Take a gondola instead of a shed. Sigege, dressed as a lucky face and wearing lotus clothes, reached under the house. Lien Win plays Wei Tuo, thinking of bringing Wei Tuo's helmet and equipment. Three girls and five girls dressed as boating fairies, wearing fishermen's hats and plain white snake clothes, thinking of wearing ancient costumes, red and green can also be used. We need two paddles. Prepare a dozen bamboo poles with bamboo leaves in the garden. Prepare ss, prepare for the eighth day of August.

It can be seen that the photos of Cixi were carefully planned and arranged by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Besides Yu Xunling, Cixi also asked Japanese photographer Yamamoto Sanjiro in China to take a "small photo of flowers" in the Summer Palace. As a reward for taking pictures, Cixi gave Yamamoto Zanjiro 22,000 gold. A photo costs 22,000 gold, which is the highest record in the world. This shows the luxury of Cixi.