Life in Qing Dynasty Shanghai: The Photographs of William Saunders features a selection of over 35 original 19th-century albumen silver prints, many hand-colored, by William Saunders from the Stephan Loewentheil Historical Photography of China Collection. This exhibition, at the China Exchange, Soho, is curated by Stacey Lambrow is the first public exhibition devoted to Saunders’s work. Saunders occupies a distinguished place in the history of photography for the exceptional body of work he produced in Shanghai during the late Qing dynasty. For over a quarter of a century, Saunders operated Shanghai’s leading photographic studio, adjacent to the Astor House Hotel, a center of social activity on the Bund in the 19th century. Saunders’s images are an unrivaled photographic resource for the study of life in late Qing dynasty Shanghai.
Gallery Talks and Panel Discussions:
November 4 at 6pm
Preservation of Culture: Custodianship of 19th Century Photography
By Stephan Loewentheil, Phillip Prodger, Terry Bennett, and Richard Fattorini
As part of the historical photography exhibition ‘Life in Qing Dynasty Shanghai: The Photographs of William Saunders’ the panel will discuss custodianship of the earliest photographs taken in China and Asia.
Stephan Loewentheil – Private Collector
Dr. Phillip Prodger – Head of Photographs Collection at the National Portrait Gallery
Terry Bennett- Independent Scholar of Early Photography of Asia
Richard Fattorini- Sotheby’s Specialist in Historical Photography
November 10 at 6pm
Traditions of Photography in China
By Dr. Michael Pritchard, Betty Yao, Grace Lau, and Stacey Lambrow
As part of the historical photography exhibition ‘Life in Qing Dynasty Shanghai: The Photographs of William Saunders’, the panel will discuss early photographic studio practices and traditions of photography in China.
Dr. Michael Pritchard – Director General of the Royal Photographic Society
Betty Yao – Managing Director at Credential International Arts Management and International Curator
Grace Lau – Contemporary photographer, lecturer and author.
Stacey Lambrow – Curator of the Stephan Loewentheil Historical Photography of China Collection
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