Opium smoker 1867

This photograph, *Opium Smokers*, was taken by William Thomas Saunders in 19th century China, using the wet collodion process. The light, sepia tones and soft focus are characteristic of this early photographic technique. The process involved coating a glass plate with light-sensitive chemicals, exposing it in a camera, and developing it immediately. This was a laborious process, requiring a portable darkroom for on-site development. Saunders ran a commercial photography studio. The image is therefore not only a record of a social practice, but also an artifact of colonial commerce. The figures in the image are arranged for the Western gaze, turning the human subjects into ethnographic curiosities, and reducing them to types. The photograph is an evocative document of cross-cultural encounter, capturing a specific moment in time, whilst also raising broader questions about the relationship between image-making, trade, and representation.