Power and Perspective: Early Photography in China

A critical reconsideration of the history of photography that explores how commerce and conflict fueled its practice in nineteenth-century China

Photography’s development as a new form of art and technology coincided with profound changes in the way China engaged with the world in the nineteenth century. The medium evolved in response to war, trade, travel, and a desire for knowledge about an unfamiliar place. Power and Perspective provides a rich account of the exchanges among photographer...