John Thomson: Master Photographer | SOAS University of London
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 2018-06-19

This seminar titled "John Thomson: Master Photographer" was given by Richard Ovendon at the Centre of South East Asian Studies, SOAS University of London on 14 June 2018, it relates to the Brunei Gallery SOAS Exhibition "China and Siam: Through the Lens of John Thomson" Find out more about this exhibition at https://www.soas.ac.uk/gallery/chinaandsiam/ ; find out more about this event at https://goo.gl/oEeWvT

The lecture will explore the life and work of one of the greatest innovators in the history of the photography. John Thomson was the first to photograph the ruins of Angkor Wat, the first Western photographer to travel extensively in the interior of China, and the first photojournalist to document the lives of everyday people on the streets of Victorian London. His life and work will be set in context and will focus on the major contributions he made to the establishment of photography as one of the great modern means of communication.

Speaker Biography
Richard Ovenden is Bodley’s Librarian, University of Oxford. His book John Thomson (1837 – 1921) Photographer, published two decades ago, remains one of the most authoritative works on John Thomson.