John Thomson‘s photographs of Hong Kong, taken between 1868 and 1872, are to be exhibited at the Maritime Museum from this Saturday. The Scotsman captured scenes and people of the young colony during the Qing Dynasty, less than 30 years after the British took the island. Read more about the collection from Christopher DeWolf at the WSJ, or visit the Maritime Museum before February 26th, tickets are HK$30. Scroll down for more images.
Below are some restored and colourised versions of Thomson’s work shared exclusively with the blog by Chris Whitehouse. He has been working on the images with Jordan Lloyd.
Whitehouse says, “One big surprise I got when doing research on the colours was that old Hong Kong was MUCH more colourful than we imagine. The impression we get from all of the books on the market is of ghostly white buildings, marching up the mountain. But that’s not at all as it was.”
These shots are a work-in-progress but Chris hopes to update more historical photos of the city and will be offering 2D and 3D prints soon. “3D is not just a fad – it’s been around almost as long as photography”, he says.
Below are some more original photos from Thomson. All were achieved at a time when photography entailed hauling around giant wooden cameras, fragile glass plates and dangerous chemicals.
MIT is hosting Thomson’s original 1873 book ‘Illustrations of China and its People‘ on its website here. Below is an extract from the Hong Kong section, which includes a particularly entertainment segment where Thomson notes a case of local resistance to the new colonisers…
“On the 15th January 1857, an attempt was made to poison the entire foreign community by the Chinese bakers, who introduced arsenic into the bread. Had the drug been admixed in smaller quantities, an awful catastrophe might have taken place. But the presence of the poison was so easily detected, that public criers, promptly sent round, were in time to prevent many from taking the bread. These bakers had, no doubt, been bribed by more influential parties…”
Here’s a reminder of what became of that quaint fishing villages…
More history and photography from HK…
Pictorial histories of local landmarks and events…
- A Brief Visual History: HK Police Vehicles & Uniforms
- A Brief Visual History: HK’s Old Airport, Kai Tak
- A Brief Visual History: Kowloon Walled City
- A Brief Visual History: The Evolution of the Hong Kong Skyline.
- A Brief Visual History: The Peak Tram
- A Brief Visual History: Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower
- A Brief Visual History: Yau Ma Tei Theatre
Blog posts charting Hong Kong’s colourful past…
- 1000+ ‘Before and After’ Photos of Old & New Hong Kong.
- Cool Vintage Hong Kong Tourism Posters.
- Execution of Namoa Pirates in Kowloon, 1891.
- Hedda Morrison’s Hong Kong: Photos from 1942, Beautifully Restored.
- HK’s Boom Years: The Best of Fan Ho.
- Hong Kong’s Most Offensive Place Names.
- How Hong Kong Was Made: Iconic Buildings Under Construction.
- Mainland Refugees Fleeing Famine Rejected by HK.
- Margaret Thatcher in Hong Kong.
- More Vintage Photos of Old Hong Kong.
- Newly Unearthed Photos of 1950s Hong Kong.
- Pictures of Hong Kong in 1972.
- Rare Shots from Inside the Old Kowloon Walled City.
- Shing Mun Redoubt, HK’s Secret WWII Tunnels.
- Street Scenes in Dreamy Colour 1954-2004.
- The ‘Great Chinese Takeaway’ – the 1997 Handover.
- The 1958 Hong Kong Cha Cha Championship Winner (Bruce Lee).
- The 1967 Hong Kong Riots.
- The Bombing of Hong Kong by the U.S. 14th Air Force.
- The Day a Cargo Ship Washed up on Cheung Chau Beach.
- The Hakka Walled Village of Tsang Tai Uk, Sha Tin.
- The Iconic ‘Two Girls’ Kwong Sang Hong Cosmetics Brand
- The Luxury British Liner at the Bottom of Victoria Harbour.
- Unseen Royal Geographic Photos.
- When the MTR Was New.
Click here for a collection of Hong Kong desktop wallpapers. You may also enjoy…
- A Hong Kong Bug’s Life: Barry Jacques’s HK Insect Safari.
- Aerial Shots of HK’s Coffin Homes, by Ko Chung Ming.
- An American Warship in Hong Kong.
- Beautifully Animated Hong Kong Cinemagraphs.
- Before and After Photos of Old & New Hong Kong.
- Cages, Hookers, Tattoos: HK’s Grim Underbelly.
- Colourful HK: More Amazing Shots by Romain Jacquet-Lagreze.
- Cool Photos of Hong Kong in Miniature.
- Domestic Helpers: Why Do You Do What You Do?
- Dreamseekers: Photographer Reveals Helper’s Journeys from Indonesia to HK.
- Dreamy Infra-red Shots of Hong Kong.
- Elite: Michael Chan’s Commentary on Education & Poverty.
- Fan Ho, Part I: HK’s Boom Years.
- Fan Ho, Part II: Street Scenes in Dreamy Colour 1954-2004.
- Food Choices on the Hong Kong Poverty Line.
- Glitch the Matrix: Old & New Hong Kong Blended Together.
- Grainne Quinlan’s Stunning Portraits of HK’s Helper Community.
- Grit, Grime and Crime: KC Kwan’s Hong Kong.
- HangGraffiti’s Unexpected Hong Kong.
- Harold de Puymorin’s Surreal HK ‘Inception’ Series.
- HK’s ‘Gloomy Summer’ by Akif Hakan Celebi.
- Hedda Morrison’s Hong Kong: Photos from 1942, Beautifully Restored
- Home Street Home: Homelessness in HK by Lei Jih-sheng.
- Hong Kong Above the Clouds.
- Hong Kong in the Rain By Christophe Jacrot.
- Hong Kong Through a Crystal Ball.
- Hong Kong Through the Eyes of NatGeo’s Mark Leong.
- Hong Kong’s Elderly Tai Chi Enthusiasts.
- Hong Kong’s Invisible Caged Poor: Mini Sculptures by Kwong Chi Kit.
- Honkey Kong: HK Photographed as a 2-D Platform Game.
- Igor Sinitsin’s Surreal Take on High Density Hong Kong.
- Jeff Tam’s HDR & Street Photography.
- Joel Odesser’s Hong Kong: ‘Behind the Scenes’.
- Little Planet Hong Kong: A New Perspective.
- Lonely Metropolis: More Colourful Shots by Brian Yen.
- Michael Wolf’s ‘Architecture of Density’.
- Michael Wolf’s ‘Window Watching’ Invasive or Curious?
- Michael Wolf’s 100 Photos of 100 Rooms of 100sq ft.
- Michael Wolf’s Hong Kong Cornerhouses.
- Neon Pink and Blue – Thomas Birke’s HK Shots.
- One Year in Hong Kong by Brian Yen.
- Photographs of Hong Kong’s Rooftop Slums.
- Pictures of Hong Kong in 1972.
- Poverty & Property: The Claustrophobic Reality of HK Shoeboxes.
- Poverty, Age & Loneliness in HK: by Brian Yen.
- Rare Shots from Inside the Old Kowloon Walled City.
- Sean Creamer’s Hong Kong.
- Spooky MTR Levitation Photography.
- Superheroes Working in Hong Kong.
- The Part of Hong Kong Foreigners Never See, by Joanathan Van Smit’.
- The Peak Tram in 1908 & More Unseen Vintage Photos.
- Tom Carter’s China: Exclusive Shots of HK & Macau.
- Vertical Horizon: Amazing Photos HK Skyscrapers.
- Vintage Photos of Old Hong Kong.
- World Press Photo 2012 at the HK Design Institute.