{"id":154718,"date":"2021-10-05T12:23:12","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T11:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/?p=154718"},"modified":"2021-10-05T12:24:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T11:24:00","slug":"victorian-travel-photographer-honoured","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/","title":{"rendered":"Victorian travel photographer honoured"},"content":{"rendered":"

A plaque to commemorate the eminent Victorian travel photographer, John Thomson, has been placed on his childhood home in Edinburgh. The centenary of Thomson’s death in 1921 was the catalyst for the commemoration, which follows the restoration of Thomson’s grave<\/a> in Streatham Cemetery in 2019. Representatives from the Scottish Society for the History of Photography, the RPS, Historic Environment Scotland, curators and photo-historians were present for the plague unveiling.<\/p>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t

Betty Yao has campaigned tirelessly to get Thomson’s work more recognition<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n

An exhibition of 94 of Thomson\u2019s photographs, curated by leading supporter\/campaigner Betty Yao, is also on show at Heriot Watt University<\/a> until March 25, 2022.<\/p>\n

Thomson is best known for his publications of his travels in Asia and street life in London and for the work he undertook for the Royal Geographic Society in training explorers in photography. He was one of the first photographers to capture Angkor Wat in Cambodia \u2013 a trip that nearly killed him – and had unique access to the court of the King of Siam (modern-day Thailand) and officials of China\u2019s Qing dynasty. Ordinary people feature heavily in Thomson\u2019s travel work too.<\/p>\n

\n\"\"\n

About John Thomson<\/strong><\/p>\n

1837<\/strong> Born in Edinburgh on 14 June. He is the eighth of nine children and his father is a tobacco spinner
\nc1850<\/strong>s Apprenticed to an optical and scientific instrument maker; studies chemistry and mathematics
\n1861<\/strong> Becomes a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts
\n1862<\/strong> Travels to Singapore, where his brother William lives, and sets up a photographic studio
\n1862-66<\/strong> Travels in the Far East, visiting Malaya, Sumatra, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), India, Bangkok and Cambodia
\n1866<\/strong> Comes back to Britain and publishes his first book, Antiquities of Cambodia
\n1867<\/strong> Returns to the Far East, staying in Singapore and settling in Hong Kong. Spends four years photographing the people and culture of China
\n1872<\/strong> Returns to the UK and lives in Brixton, London.
\n1876-7<\/strong> Works with journalist Adolphe Smith on monthly magazine Street Life in London
\n1879<\/strong> Elected a member of the Photographic Society, later the RPS. Opens a studio in London
\n1881<\/strong> Queen Victoria appoints him photographer to the royal family
\n1910<\/strong> Retires from his commercial studio and lives in Edinburgh
\n1921<\/strong> Dies from a heart attack at the age of 84<\/p>\n

\n

Enjoy some of Thomson’s outstanding images below and check out the following highly recommended books on China<\/a> and Siam<\/a>.<\/p>\n\"\"\n\n\"\"\n\n\"\"\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Thomson, photographer of China, Hong Kong and Thailand in the 19th century, is honoured with a plaque at his birthplace in Edinburgh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":154722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1624,39],"tags":[],"product-category":[],"class_list":["post-154718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration-film","category-photo-news"],"yoast_head":"\nVictorian travel photographer honoured - Amateur Photographer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"John Thomson, photographer of China, Hong Kong and Thailand in the 19th century, is honoured with a plaque at his birthplace in Edinburgh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Victorian travel photographer honoured\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"John Thomson, photographer of China, Hong Kong and Thailand in the 19th century, is honoured with a plaque at his birthplace in Edinburgh\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Amateur Photographer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Amateur.photographer.magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-05T11:23:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-05T11:24:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/John-Thomson.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"579\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Jones\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AP_Magazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AP_Magazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Jones\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Steve Jones\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/97055e11a17e073555cf1df246de195c\"},\"headline\":\"Victorian travel photographer honoured\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-05T11:23:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-05T11:24:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/\"},\"wordCount\":397,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/John-Thomson.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Inspiration\",\"Latest news\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/\",\"name\":\"Victorian travel photographer honoured - Amateur Photographer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/John-Thomson.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-05T11:23:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-05T11:24:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/97055e11a17e073555cf1df246de195c\"},\"description\":\"John Thomson, photographer of China, Hong Kong and Thailand in the 19th century, is honoured with a plaque at his birthplace in Edinburgh\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/John-Thomson.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/John-Thomson.jpeg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":579},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Film\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/film\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Inspiration\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/film\/inspiration-film\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Victorian travel photographer honoured\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/\",\"name\":\"Amateur Photographer\",\"description\":\"The world's number 1 weekly photo magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/97055e11a17e073555cf1df246de195c\",\"name\":\"Steve Jones\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb0c8ae71b139c89daee89fabe871899?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb0c8ae71b139c89daee89fabe871899?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Steve Jones\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/author\/stevejones\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Victorian travel photographer honoured - Amateur Photographer","description":"John Thomson, photographer of China, Hong Kong and Thailand in the 19th century, is honoured with a plaque at his birthplace in Edinburgh","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Victorian travel photographer honoured","og_description":"John Thomson, photographer of China, Hong Kong and Thailand in the 19th century, is honoured with a plaque at his birthplace in Edinburgh","og_url":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/","og_site_name":"Amateur Photographer","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Amateur.photographer.magazine","article_published_time":"2021-10-05T11:23:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-05T11:24:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":579,"url":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/John-Thomson.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Steve Jones","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AP_Magazine","twitter_site":"@AP_Magazine","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Steve Jones","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/"},"author":{"name":"Steve Jones","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/97055e11a17e073555cf1df246de195c"},"headline":"Victorian travel photographer honoured","datePublished":"2021-10-05T11:23:12+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-05T11:24:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/"},"wordCount":397,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/John-Thomson.jpeg","articleSection":["Inspiration","Latest news"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/","url":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/","name":"Victorian travel photographer honoured - Amateur Photographer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/John-Thomson.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-10-05T11:23:12+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-05T11:24:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/97055e11a17e073555cf1df246de195c"},"description":"John Thomson, photographer of China, Hong Kong and Thailand in the 19th century, is honoured with a plaque at his birthplace in Edinburgh","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/John-Thomson.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/John-Thomson.jpeg","width":1024,"height":579},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/victorian-travel-photographer-honoured\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Film","item":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/film\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Inspiration","item":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/film\/inspiration-film\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Victorian travel photographer honoured"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#website","url":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/","name":"Amateur Photographer","description":"The world's number 1 weekly photo magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/97055e11a17e073555cf1df246de195c","name":"Steve Jones","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb0c8ae71b139c89daee89fabe871899?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb0c8ae71b139c89daee89fabe871899?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Steve Jones"},"url":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/author\/stevejones\/"}]}},"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/John-Thomson.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 20:28:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154718"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154728,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154718\/revisions\/154728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154718"},{"taxonomy":"product-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product-category?post=154718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}