Garden, Canton 1869

This albumen print, “Garden, Canton,” was made by John Thomson, a Scottish photographer, most likely in the 1860s. It depicts a traditional Chinese garden, complete with a small pagoda-like structure, lush trees, and a body of water with boats docked nearby. Thomson’s work is interesting because it operates within a colonial context, in which the western gaze exoticized and aestheticized the East. His photographs like this one, taken in China, were often consumed by Western audiences eager for glimpses of far-off lands. As historians, we can look at how the image is framed, what details are emphasized, and what is left out, to understand the cultural exchange—and often, the power dynamics—at play during this period. By looking at travelogues, colonial records, and even the diaries of Westerners in China at the time, we can enrich our understanding of the image. Ultimately, we can interpret photographs like this one, not as neutral documents, but as cultural artifacts shaped by historical forces.