Evening Presentation by RICHARD OVENDEN, University of Oxford
Drinks Reception 6:30pm
Presentation 7:00pm
Close 8:00pm

One of the earliest Western photographers in Asia, John Thomson, created a photographic corpus of remarkable power and continued interest. He worked in Asia during the 1860s and 1870s, and was based for much of his career in Hong Kong. In addition to documenting Hong Kong itself, from his studio in the city he embarked on a series of extensive travels across China with his camera, and many of his images were widely circulated in print across the globe, making his images some of the earliest internationally renowned photography of China. Join Richard Ovenden as he presents on the fascinating Photographic Journeys of John Thomson. 

This workshop is co-organized by the Chinese University of Hong Kong Library, University of Oxford, Asia Society Hong Kong, and Credential Arts. The CUHK Library will be hosting an exhibition “Hong Kong Through the Lens of John Thomson” from 15 November 2018 to 28 February 2019. Details: http://www.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/en/about/news/spc-johnthomson2018. All are welcome.

Richard Ovenden serves as Bodley’s Librarian at the University of Oxford. He has published widely on the history of collecting, the history of photography and on professional concerns of the library, archive, and information world, and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Recently Richard headed Oxford’s involvement with the Google mass digitization project. He holds a Professorial Fellowship at Balliol College, Oxford.

Co-presented with