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China: Through the Lens of John Thomson 1868-1872 at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
17th October 2020 @ 8:00 am - 14th February 2021 @ 5:00 pm
£5.00
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
China: Through the Lens of John Thomson 1868-1872
Saturday 17 October – Sunday 14 February 2021
This internationally-acclaimed exhibition explores the beautiful and sensitive photography of the 19th-century pioneer Scottish photojournalist, John Thomson (1837-1921).
Born in 1837, John Thomson was a pioneer of photojournalism and one of the first European members of his profession to travel extensively in the Far East. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest photographers of his generation.
His travels took him across China – from the Pearl River, the Min River, to the Yangtze River and from Fuzhou, Guangzhou to Beijing – recording the regional landscapes, architecture, people, clothes and customs.
Thomson’s portrait photographs cover people from all walks of life, including the young, old, brides, street sellers, soldiers, and even powerful Mandarin bureaucrats.
Each backdrop also reveals more about the streets, back yards, gardens, palaces, architecture, clothes and customs of the time, capturing fascinating details from the long-lost world of imperial China.
Thomson’s photographs will be complemented by a display of Chinese artefacts selected from the museums’ own collections; including 18th and 19th-century jade and ivory carvings, embroidered textiles and ceramics.
Tickets to the exhibition are £5, with concessions costing £3 and children under 16 can attend for free.
