Felix Beato
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Felice Beato (c. 1832 – 29 January 1909), also known as Felix Beato, was an Italian–British photographer. He was one of the first people to take photographs in East Asia and one of the first
war photographers War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organize ...
. He is noted for his
genre works Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations (also called genre works, ...
, portraits, and views and
panoramas A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word ...
of the architecture and landscapes of Asia and the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
region. Beato's travels gave him opportunities to create images of countries, people, and events that were unfamiliar and remote to most people in Europe and North America. His work provides images of such events as the
Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...
and the
Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Chinese War or ''Arrow'' War, was fought between the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States against the Qing dynasty of China between 1856 and 1860. It was the second major ...
, and represents the first substantial body of
photojournalism Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
. He influenced other photographers; and his impact in Japan, where he taught and worked with numerous other photographers and artists, was particularly deep and lasting.


Early life and identity

A death certificate discovered in 2009 states that Beato was born in
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
in 1832. It also indicates that he was a
British subject The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...
and a bachelor.Bennett, ''History of Photography in China, 1842–1860'', p. 241. It is likely that early in his life Beato and his family moved to
Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...
, at the time part of the British
protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...
of the
Ionian Islands The Ionian Islands (Modern Greek: , ; Ancient Greek, Katharevousa: , ) are a archipelago, group of islands in the Ionian Sea, west of mainland Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese ("Seven Islands"; , ''Heptanēsa'' or , ''Heptanē ...
, and so Beato was a British subject. Because of the existence of a number of photographs signed "Felice Antonio Beato" and "Felice A. Beato", it was long assumed that there was one photographer who somehow photographed at the same time in places as distant as Egypt and Japan. By 1983 it was known that there instead were two brothers, Felice Beato and
Antonio Beato Antonio Beato (c. 1832–1906), also known as Antoine Beato, was an Italian-British photographer. He is noted for his genre works, portraits, views of the architecture and landscapes of Egypt and other locations in the Mediterranean region. H ...
, who sometimes worked together, sharing a signature.


Mediterranean, the Crimea and India

Little is certain about Felice Beato's early development as a photographer, though it is said that he bought his first and only lens in Paris in 1851.Clark, Fraser, and Osman, p. 90. He probably met the British photographer James Robertson in Malta in 1850 and accompanied him to
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
in 1851. Superintendent of the Imperial Mint, Robertson opened one of the first commercial photography studios in the capital between 1854 and 1856. He had been an engraver at the Imperial Ottoman Mint since 1843 and had probably taken up photography in the 1840s. In 1853 the two began photographing together and they formed a partnership called "Robertson & Beato" either in that year or in 1854 when Robertson opened a photographic studio in
Pera Pera may refer to: Places * Pera (Beyoğlu), a district in Istanbul formerly called Pera, now called Beyoğlu ** Galata, a neighbourhood of Beyoğlu, often referred to as Pera in the past * Pêra (Caparica), a Portuguese locality in the district o ...
, Constantinople. The pair were joined by Beato's brother Antonio on photographic expeditions to
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
in 1854 or 1856 and to Greece and
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
in 1857. A number of the firm's photographs produced in the 1850s are signed "Robertson, Beato and Co.", and it is believed that the "and Co." refers to Antonio. In late 1854 or early 1855, James Robertson married Beato's sister, Leonilda Maria Matilda Beato. They had three daughters, Catherine Grace (b. 1856), Edith Marcon Vergence (b. 1859), and Helen Beatruc (b. 1861). In 1855 Felice Beato and Robertson travelled to
Balaklava Balaklava ( Ukrainian and , , ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklavsky District that used to be part of the Crimean Oblast before it was transferred to Sevast ...
, Crimea, where they took over reportage of the
Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
following
Roger Fenton Roger Fenton (28 March 1819 – 8 August 1869) was a British photographer, noted as one of the first war photographers. Fenton was born into a Lancashire merchant family. After graduating from London with an arts degree, he became interested i ...
's departure. Beato was ostensibly Robertson's assistant, however, the unpredictable conditions of a war zone forced Beato to assume a more active role. In contrast to Fenton's depiction of the dignified aspects of war, Beato and Robertson showed the destruction and death. They photographed the fall of
Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...
in September 1855, producing about 60 images. Their Crimean images dramatically changed the way that war was reported and depicted. In February 1858 Beato arrived in
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
and began travelling throughout
Northern India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...
to document the aftermath of the
Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...
. During this time he produced possibly the first-ever photographic images of corpses.Zannier, "Beato", p. 447. It is believed that for at least one of his photographs taken at the palace of
Sikandar Bagh Sikandar Bagh (, ), formerly known by the British as Sikunder/Sikandra/Secundra Bagh, is a villa and garden enclosed by a fortified wall, with loopholes, gateway and corner bastions, approx. 150 yards square, c. , located in the city of Lucknow, ...
in
Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...
, he had the skeletal remains of Indian rebels disinterred or rearranged to heighten the photograph's dramatic impact (see events at Taku Forts). He was also in the cities of
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
,
Cawnpore Kanpur ( Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary financial and commercial centre of northern India. Founded ...
,
Meerut Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...
,
Benares Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges, Ganges river in North India, northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hinduism, Hindu world.* * * * The city ...
,
Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...
,
Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...
,
Simla Shimla, also known as Simla (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summe ...
, and
Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
. Beato was joined in July 1858 by his brother Antonio, who later left India, probably for health reasons, in December 1859. Antonio ended up in Egypt in 1860, setting up a photographic studio in Thebes in 1862.


China

In 1860 Beato left the partnership of Robertson & Beato, though Robertson retained use of the name until 1867. Beato was sent from India to photograph the Anglo-French military expedition to China in the
Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Chinese War or ''Arrow'' War, was fought between the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States against the Qing dynasty of China between 1856 and 1860. It was the second major ...
. He arrived in
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
in March and immediately began photographing the city and its surroundings as far as
Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...
.Clark, Fraser, and Osman, pp. 92–93. Beato's photographs are some of the earliest taken in China. While in Hong Kong, Beato met
Charles Wirgman Charles Wirgman (31 August 1832 - 8 February 1891) was an English artist, caricaturist and editorial cartoonist, the creator of the '' Japan Punch'' and illustrator in China and Meiji period-Japan for the '' Illustrated London News''. Wirgman w ...
, an artist and correspondent for the ''
Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...
''. The two accompanied the Anglo-French forces travelling north to Talien Bay, then to Pehtang and the
Taku Forts The Taku Forts or Dagukou Forts (大沽口炮台), also called the Peiho Forts are forts located by the Hai River (Peiho River) estuary in the Binhai New Area, Tianjin, in northeastern China. They are located southeast of the Tianjin urban ...
at the mouth of the
Peiho The Hai River (海河, lit. "Sea River"), also known as the Peiho, ("White River"), or Hai Ho, is a Chinese river connecting Beijing to Tianjin and the Bohai Sea. During the Song dynasty, the main stream of the Hai River was called the lowe ...
, and on to
Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...
and Qingyi Yuan, the suburban Summer Palace. For places on this route and later in Japan, Wirgman's (and others') illustrations for the ''Illustrated London News'' were often derived from Beato's photographs.


Taku Forts

Beato's photographs of the Second Opium War are the first to document a military campaign as it unfolded,Lacoste, p. 10. doing so through a sequence of dated and related images. His photographs of the Taku Forts represent this approach on a reduced scale, forming a narrative recreation of the battle. The sequence of images shows the approach to the forts, the effects of bombardments on the exterior walls and fortifications, and finally the devastation within the forts, including the bodies of dead Chinese soldiers. The photographs were not taken in this order, as the photographs of dead Chinese had to be taken first—before the bodies were removed; only then was Beato free to take the other views of the exterior and interior of the forts. Dr. David F. Rennie, a member of the expedition, noted in his campaign memoir:
I walked round the ramparts on the west side. They were thickly strewed with dead – in the northwest angle, thirteen were lying in one group round a gun. Signor Beato was here in great excitement, characterising the group as "beautiful," and begging that it might not be interfered with until perpetuated by his photographic apparatus, which was done a few minutes afterwards.


Summer Palace

Just outside Peking, Beato took photographs at Qingyi Yuan (now Yihe Yuan, the Summer Palace), a private estate of the Emperor of China comprising palace pavilions, temples, a large artificial lake, and gardens. Some of these photographs, taken between 6 and 18 October 1860, are unique images of buildings plundered and looted by the Anglo-French forces beginning on 6 October. On 18 and 19 October, the buildings were torched by the British First Division on the orders of
Lord Elgin Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine, ( ; 20 July 176614 November 1841), often known as Lord Elgin, was a Scottish nobleman, diplomat, and collector, known primarily for the controversial procurement of marble sculptures ...
as a reprisal against the emperor for the torture and deaths of twenty members of an Allied diplomatic party. Bennett writes that "These hotographsappear to be the earliest images of Peking so far discovered, and are of the utmost historical and cultural importance." Among the last photographs that Beato took in China at this time were portraits of Lord Elgin, in Peking to sign the
Convention of Peking The Convention of Peking or First Convention of Peking is an agreement comprising three distinct unequal treaties concluded between the Qing dynasty of China and Great Britain, France, and the Russian Empire in 1860. Background On 18 October ...
, and
Prince Kung Yixin (11January 1833– 29May 1898), better known in English as PrinceGong or Kung, was an imperial prince of the Aisin Gioro clan and an important statesman of the Manchu people, Manchu-led Qing dynasty in China. He was a regent of the empire ...
, who signed on behalf of the
Xianfeng Emperor The Xianfeng Emperor (17 July 1831 – 22 August 1861), also known by his temple name Emperor Wenzong of Qing, personal name Yizhu, was the eighth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the seventh Qing emperor to rule over China proper. During his re ...
. Beato returned to England in October 1861, and during that winter he sold 400 of his photographs of India and China to
Henry Hering Henry Hering (February 15, 1874 – January 15, 1949) was an American sculptor. Early career He was a student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens at Cooper Union and of Philip Martiny at the Art Students League of New York. He then went to Paris where ...
, a London commercial portrait photographer. File:Silver Island Yang-tze-Kiang.jpg, Silver Island Yang-tze-Kiang File:Thibetan Document.jpg, Felice Beato, Thibetan monument in the Lama Temple near Pekin, October 1860


Japan

By 1863 Beato had moved to
Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
, Japan, joining
Charles Wirgman Charles Wirgman (31 August 1832 - 8 February 1891) was an English artist, caricaturist and editorial cartoonist, the creator of the '' Japan Punch'' and illustrator in China and Meiji period-Japan for the '' Illustrated London News''. Wirgman w ...
, with whom he had travelled from Bombay to Hong Kong.Bennett, ''Photography in Japan, 1853–1912,'' p. 94. The two formed and maintained a partnership called "Beato & Wirgman, Artists and Photographers" from 1864 until 1867, one of the earliest and most important commercial studios in Japan. Wirgman again produced illustrations derived from Beato's photographs, while Beato photographed some of Wirgman's sketches and other works. (Beato's photographs were also used for engravings within
Aimé Humbert Aimé () is a French masculine given name. The feminine form is Aimée, translated as "beloved". Aimé may refer to: Given name * Saint Amatus or Saint Aimé (died 690), Benedictine monk, saint, abbot and bishop in Switzerland * Aimé, duc d ...
's ''Le Japon illustré'' and other works.) Beato's Japanese photographs include portraits, genre works, landscapes, cityscapes, and a series of photographs documenting the scenery and sites along the Tōkaidō, the latter series recalling the
ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...
of
Hiroshige or , born Andō Tokutarō (; 1797 – 12 October 1858), was a Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist, considered the last great master of that tradition. Hiroshige is best known for his horizontal-format landscape series '' The Fifty-three Stations ...
and
Hokusai , known mononymously as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. His woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock print series ''Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'' includes the iconic print ''The Gr ...
. During this period, foreign access to (and within) the country was greatly restricted by the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
. Accompanying ambassadorial delegationsGartlan, "Felix Beato", p. 129. and taking any other opportunities created by his personal popularity and close relationship with the British military, Beato reached areas of Japan where few westerners had ventured, and in addition to conventionally pleasing subjects sought sensational and macabre subject matter such as heads on display after decapitation. His images are remarkable not only for their quality but also for their rarity as photographic views of
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
Japan.Bennett, ''Photography in Japan, 1853–1912'', p. 97. The greater part of Beato's work in Japan contrasted strongly with his earlier work in India and China, which "had underlined and even celebrated conflict and the triumph of British imperial might". Aside from the ''Portrait of Prince Kung'', any appearances of Chinese people in Beato's earlier work had been peripheral (minor, blurred, or both) or as corpses. With the exception of his work in September 1864 as an official photographer on the British military expedition to Shimonoseki, Beato was eager to portray Japanese people, and did so uncondescendingly, even showing them as defiant in the face of the elevated status of westerners.Beato was very active while in Japan. In 1865 he produced a number of dated views of
Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...
and its surroundings. From 1866 he was often caricatured in ''Japan Punch'', founded and edited by Wirgman.Bennett, ''Photography in Japan, 1853–1912'', p. 95. In an October 1866 fire that destroyed much of Yokohama, Beato lost his studio and many, perhaps all, of his negatives. While Beato was the first photographer in Japan to sell albums of his works, he quickly recognised their full commercial potential. By around 1870 their sale had become the mainstay of his business. Although the customer would select the content of earlier albums, Beato moved towards albums of his own selection. It was probably Beato who introduced to photography in Japan the double concept of views and costumes/manners, an approach common in photography of the Mediterranean. By 1868 Beato had readied two volumes of photographs, "Native Types", containing 100 portraits and genre works, and "Views of Japan", containing 98 landscapes and cityscapes. Many of the photographs in Beato's albums were hand-coloured, a technique that in his studio successfully applied the refined skills of
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
watercolourists and woodblock printmakers to European photography. From about the time of the ending of his partnership with Wirgman in 1869, Beato attempted to retire from the work of a photographer, instead attempting other venturesBennett, ''Photography in Japan'', p. 86. and delegating photographic work to others within his own studio in Yokohama, "F. Beato & Co., Photographers", which he ran with an assistant named H. Woollett, four Japanese photographers and four Japanese artists.Clark, Fraser, and Osman, p. 103.
Kusakabe Kimbei Kusakabe Kimbei (日下部 金兵衛; 1841–1934) was a Japanese photographer. He usually went by his given name, Kimbei, because his clientele, mostly non- Japanese-speaking foreign residents and visitors, found it easier to pronounce than his ...
was probably one of Beato's artist-assistants before becoming a photographer in his own right. These other ventures failed, but Beato's photographic skills and personal popularity ensured that he could successfully return to work as a photographer. Beato photographed with
Ueno Hikoma was a pioneer Japanese photographer, born in Nagasaki. He is noted for his fine portraits, often of important Japanese and foreign figures, and for his excellent landscapes, particularly of Nagasaki and its surroundings. Ueno was a major figure ...
, and possibly taught photography to
Raimund von Stillfried Baron Raimund von Stillfried, also known as Baron Raimund von Stillfried-Rathenitz (6 August 1839, in Komotau, Bohemia – 12 August 1911, in Vienna, Austrian-Hungarian Empire), was an Austrian military officer and early professional photographer i ...
. In 1871 Beato served as official photographer with the United States naval expedition of Admiral Rodgers to Korea. Although it is possible that an unidentified Frenchman photographed Korea during the 1866 invasion of
Ganghwa Island Ganghwa Island (), also Ganghwado, is an island in Ganghwa County, Incheon, South Korea. It is in the Yellow Sea and in an estuary of the Han River. The island is separated from Gimpo (on the South Korean mainland) by a narrow channel spanned ...
, Beato's photographs are the earliest of Korea whose provenance is clear. Beato's business ventures in Japan were numerous. He owned land and several studios, was a property consultant, had a financial interest in the Grand Hotel of Yokohama, and was a dealer in imported carpets and women's bags, among other things. He also appeared in court on several occasions, variously as plaintiff, defendant, and witness. On 6 August 1873 Beato was appointed
Consul General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...
for Greece in Japan. In 1877 Beato sold most of his stock to the firm Stillfried & Andersen, who then moved into his studio. In turn, Stillfried & Andersen sold the stock to
Adolfo Farsari Adolfo Farsari (; 11 February 1841 – 7 February 1898) was an Italian photographer based in Yokohama, Japan. His studio, the last notable foreign-owned studio in Japan, was one of the country's largest and most prolific commercial photograp ...
in 1885. Following the sale to Stillfried & Andersen, Beato apparently retired for some years from photography, concentrating on his parallel career as a financial speculator and trader. On 29 November 1884 he left Japan, ultimately landing in
Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...
, Egypt. It was reported in a Japanese newspaper that he had lost all his money on the Yokohama silver exchange.Clark, Fraser, and Osman, p. 112.


Burma and later years

From 1884 to 1885 Beato was the official photographer of the
Nile Expedition The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–1885), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to Sudan to help the Egyptians withdraw their garr ...
led by Baron (later Viscount) G.J. Wolseley to
Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...
, Sudan, in relief of General Charles Gordon. Arriving in April 1885, however, he missed the unsuccessful relief mission by three months and had to turn his attention to documenting the withdrawal of Wolseley's troops to the coastal town of
Suakin Suakin or Sawakin (, Beja: ''Oosook'') is a port city in northeastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about north. Suakin used to be considered the height ...
. Briefly back in England in 1886, Beato lectured to the London and Provincial Photographic Society on photographic techniques. He arrived in Burma probably in December 1886, after Upper Burma had been annexed by the British in late 1885. Much publicity had been made in the British press about the three
Anglo-Burmese Wars The Anglo-Burmese people, also known as the Anglo-Burmans, are a community of Eurasians of Burmese and European descent; they emerged as a distinct community through mixed relationships (sometimes permanent, sometimes temporary) between the B ...
, which had started in 1825 and culminated in December 1885 with the fall of
Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...
and the capture of King
Thibaw Min Thibaw Min, also Thebaw (, ; 1 January 1859 – 16 December 1916), was the last king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) and also the last Burmese monarch in the country's history. His reign ended when the Royal Burmese armed forces ...
. Beato, who had covered military operations in India and China, was probably attracted by the news of the annexation. While he arrived in Burma after the main military operations ended, he would still get to see more of the action, as the annexation by the British led to an insurgency which lasted for the following decade. This allowed Beato to take a number of pictures of the British military in operations or at the
Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania {, class="wikitable" width="95%" , - bgcolor="white" !align=center, Residence !align=center, Photo !align=center, City !align=cen ...
, Mandalay, as well as insurgency soldiers and prisoners.Singer, p. 98. Beato set up a photographic studio in Mandalay and, in 1894, a curiosa and antiques dealership, running both businesses separately and, according to records at the time, very successfully. His past experience and the credibility derived from his time in Japan brought him a large clientele of opulent locals, posing in traditional attire for official portraits. Other images, from Buddhas to landscapes and buildings, were sold from master albums in Burma and Europe. In 1896, Trench Gascoigne published some of Beato's images in ''Among Pagodas and Fair Ladies'' and, the following year, Mrs Ernest Hart's ''Picturesque Burma'' included more, while George W. Bird in his ''Wanderings in Burma'' not only presented thirty-five credited photographs but published a long description of Beato's businesses and recommended visitors to come by his shop. By that time, Beato's photographs had come to represent the very image of Burma to the rest of the world, which it would remain for decades to come. As his curios business developed, with branches in
Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...
, Mandalay but also in Colombo and London, he also acquired the Photographic Art Gallery in Mandalay in 1903, another photographic studio. In his old age, Beato had become an important business party in Colonial Burma, involved in many enterprises from electric works to life insurance and mining.


Death and legacy

Although Beato was previously believed to have died in Rangoon or Mandalay in 1905 or 1906, his death certificate, discovered in 2009, indicates that he died on 29 January 1909 in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, Italy. Whether acknowledged as his own work, sold as Stillfried & Andersen's, or encountered as anonymous engravings, Beato's work had a major impact:
For over fifty years into the early twentieth century, Beato's photographs of Asia constituted the standard imagery of travel diaries, illustrated newspapers, and other published accounts, and thus helped shape "Western" notions of several Asian societies.


Photographic techniques

Photographs of the 19th century often now show the limitations of the technology used, yet Beato managed to successfully work within and even transcend those limitations. He predominantly produced albumen silver prints from wet collodion glass-plate negatives. Beato pioneered and refined the techniques of hand-colouring photographs and making panoramas. He may have started hand-colouring photographs at the suggestion of Wirgman, or he may have seen the hand-coloured photographs made by partners Charles Parker and William Parke Andrew.Bennett, ''Early Japanese Images'', p. 39. Whatever the inspiration, Beato's coloured landscapes are delicate and naturalistic and his coloured portraits, more strongly coloured than the landscapes, are appraised as excellent. As well as providing views in colour, Beato worked to represent very large subjects in a way that gave a sense of their vastness. Throughout his career, Beato's work is marked by spectacular panoramas, which he produced by carefully making several contiguous exposures of a scene and then joining the resulting prints together, thereby re-creating the expansive view.Lacoste, pp. 8–9. The complete version of his panorama of Pehtang comprises seven photographs joined almost seamlessly for a total length of more than two metres (6 1/2 ft).


See also

* History of photography 1850–1900 * '' Felice...Felice...'', a 1998 Dutch drama loosely based on Beato's time in Japan *
Sakoku is the most common name for the isolationist foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1868), relations and trade between Japan and other countries were severely limited, and almost all ...
*
List of Westerners who visited Japan before 1868 This list contains notable Europeans and Americans who visited Japan before the Meiji Restoration. The name of each individual is followed by the year of the first visit, the country of origin, and a brief explanation. 16th century * António d ...
* Felice A. Beato * Baron Raimund von Stillfried *
John McCosh John McCosh or John MacCosh or James McCosh (Kirkmichael, South Ayrshire, Kirkmichael, Ayrshire, 5 March 1805 – 18 January / 16 March 1885) was a Scottish army surgeon who made Documentary photography, documentary photographs whilst serving in ...
, 19th-century photographer in Burma *
Philip Adolphe Klier Philip Adolphe Klier (c. 1845 – 27 March 1911), also known as Philip Klier, was a German photographer, who arrived in Burma as a young man around 1865 and spent the rest of his life there. Mainly working as self-trained photographer and busin ...
, 19th-century photographer in Burma *
List of Orientalist artists This is an incomplete list of artists who have produced works on Orientalism#Orientalist art, Orientalist subjects, drawn from the Islamic world or other parts of Asia. Many artists listed on this page worked in many genres, and Orientalist subj ...
*
Orientalism In art history, literature, and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of the Eastern world (or "Orient") by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. Orientalist painting, particularly of the Middle ...


Footnotes


Citations


References

* Baldwin, Gordon, Malcolm Daniel, and Sarah Greenough. ''All the Mighty World: The Photographs of Roger Fenton, 1852–1860.'' New Haven:
Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...
, 2004. ; . * Banta, Melissa, and Susan Taylor, eds. ''A Timely Encounter: Nineteenth-Century Photographs of Japan.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press, 1988. . * Bennett, Terry. ''Early Japanese Images.'' Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle, 1996. . * Bennett, Terry.
Felice Beato and the United States Expedition to Korea of 1871
". Old Japan. Accessed 3 April 2006. * Bennett, Terry. ''History of Photography in China, 1842–1860.'' London: Bernard Quaritch, 2009. . * Bennett, Terry. "Korea". In ''Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography,'' 2: pp. 804–806. New York: Routledge, 2008. . * Bennett, Terry. ''Photography in Japan, 1853–1912.'' North Clarendon, Vermont: Tuttle, 2006. . * Bird, George W.
Wanderings in Burma
'' London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, 1897. * Bowen, Claire. "Memorising the mutiny: Felice Beato's Lucknow photographs." ''Cahiers victoriens et édouardiens'', issue 66, Autumn 2007. . * Broecker, William L., ed.
International Center of Photography Encyclopedia of Photography
'' New York: Pound Press; Crown, 1984. . * Chevedden, Paul E. "Early photography of the middle east: Review article." ''MELA Notes'', no. 30, Fall 1983, pp. 23–43. . * Choi Injin and Park Juseok. ''The Century of Korean Photography: Images from the Land of the Morning Calm.'' Seoul: RIHP, 2001. . * Clark, John. "A chronology of Charles Wirgman (1832?–1891)". In Clark, ''Japanese Exchanges in Art, 1850s to 1930s with Britain, Continental Europe, and the USA,'' pp. 25–58. Sydney: Power Publications, 2001. * Clark, John. ''Japanese Exchanges in Art, 1850s to 1930s with Britain, Continental Europe, and the USA: Papers and Research Materials.'' Sydney: Power Publications, 2001. . * Clark, John, John Fraser, and Colin Osman. "A revised chronology of Felice (Felix) Beato (1825/34?–1908?)". In Clark, ''Japanese Exchanges in Art, 1850s to 1930s with Britain, Continental Europe, and the USA.'' Sydney: Power Publications, 2001. * Dehejia, Vidya, et al. ''India through the Lens: Photography 1840–1911.'' Washington, D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery; Ahmedabad: Mapin; Munich, Prestel, 2000. . * Dobson, Sebastian. "'I been to keep up my position': Felice Beato in Japan, 1863–1877". In Rousmaniere and Hirayama, eds, ''Reflecting Truth: Japanese Photography in the Nineteenth Century,'' pp. 30–39. Amsterdam: Hotei, 2004. . * Dobson, Sebastian. "Japan." In ''Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography,'' 2: pp. 769–773. * ''Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography.'' 2 vols. New York: Routledge, 2008. . * Gartlan, Luke. "A chronology of Baron Raimund von Stillfried-Ratenicz (1839–1911)." In Clark, ''Japanese Exchanges in Art, 1850s to 1930s with Britain, Continental Europe, and the USA,'' pp. 121–178. Sydney: Power Publications, 2001. * Gartlan, Luke. "Felix Beato". In ''Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography,'' 2: pp. 128–131. * Gernsheim, Helmut. ''The Rise of Photography: 1850–1880: The Age of Collodion.'' London: Thames and Hudson, 1988. . * Gray, Ezio. ''Le terre nostre ritornano... Malta, Corsica, Nizza''. Novara: De Agostini Editoriale, 1943.  . * Greenough, Sarah. "'A new starting point': Roger Fenton's life". In Baldwin, Daniel, and Greenough, ''All the Mighty World,'' pp. 2–31. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. . * Handy, Ellen. "Tradition, novelty and invention: Portrait and landscape photography in Japan, 1860s–1880s". In Banta and Taylor, eds, ''A Timely Encounter: Nineteenth Century Photographs of Japan,'' pp. 53–71. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum, 1988. . * Harrington, Peter.
Lucknow after the Indian mutiny: The photographs of Felice Beato
. ''Military Heritage'', February 2005, pp. 68–71, 82. * Harris, David. ''Of Battle and Beauty: Felice Beato's Photographs of China.'' Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1999. . * Hart, Mrs Ernest. '
Picturesque Burma
'' London: J.M. Dent, 1897. * Himeno, Junichi. "Encounters with foreign photographers: The introduction and spread of photography in Kyūshū". In Rousmaniere and Hirayama, eds, ''Reflecting Truth: Japanese Photography in the Nineteenth Century,'' pp. 18–29. Amsterdam: Hotei, 2004. . * Hockley, Allen. "Photo albums and their implications for the study of early Japanese photography". In Rousmaniere and Hirayama, eds, ''Reflecting Truth: Japanese Photography in the Nineteenth Century,'' pp. 66–85. Amsterdam: Hotei, 2004. . * Kanai Madoka (), ed. ''Egakareta Bakumatsu Meiji: Irasutoreiteddo Rondon Nyūsu Nihon tsūshin 1853–1902'' (). Tokyo: Yushodo, 1973. , . * Khorakiwala, Ateya. "Staging the modern ruin: Beato's ''Sikander Bagh, Lucknow''". ''Thresholds'', no. 41, 2013: pp. 138–45. . * Lacoste, Anne.
Felice Beato: A Photographer on the Eastern Road
'' Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2010. . * Lowry, John. "Victorian Burma by Post: Felice Beato's Mail-Order Business", ''Country Life'', 13 March 1975, pp. 659–660. * Masselos, Jim, and Narayani Gupta. ''Beato's Delhi 1857, 1957.'' Delhi: Ravi Dayal, 2000. . * O'Connor, V. C. Scott.
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', new edition. London: Hutchinson, circa 1928. * O'Connor, V. C. Scott.
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', London: Hutchinson, 1907. * Pare, Richard.
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'' Montréal: Centre Canadien d'Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture; New York: Callaway, 1982. . * Pare, Richard. "Roger Fenton: The artist's eye". In Baldwin, Daniel, and Greenough, ''All the Mighty World: The Photographs of Roger Fenton, 1852–1860,'' pp. 221–230. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. . * Peres, Michael R. ''Focal Encyclopedia of Photography: Digital Imaging, Theory and Applications.'' 4th ed. Amsterdam: Focal Press, 2007. . ''S.v.'' "Copying". * Rasch, Carsten. ''Photographien aus dem alten Japan – Felice Beato und seine Photographien aus der Edo-Ära''. Hamburg, 2014. . * Rennie, D vidF eld ''The British Arms in North China and Japan: Peking 1860; Kagosima 1862.'' London: John Murray, 1864
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* Robinson, Bonnell D. "Transition and the Quest for Permanence: Photographer and Photographic Technology in Japan, 1854–1880s". In Banta and Taylor, eds, ''A Timely Encounter: Nineteenth-Century Photographs of Japan,'' pp. 39–52. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press, 1988. . * Rosenblum, Naomi.
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'' 3rd ed. New York: Abbeville Press, 1997. . * Rousmaniere, Nicole Coolidge, and Mikiko Hirayama, eds. ''Reflecting Truth: Japanese Photography in the Nineteenth Century.'' Amsterdam: Hotei, 2004. . * Singer, Noel F. "Felice Beato's 'Burmese days'". ''Arts of Asia'' vol. 28, no. 5, September–October 1998, pp. 96–107. * ''Thacker's Indian Directory''. Thacker, Spink & Co. 3 Esplanade East, Calcutta, India. Issues from 1863 to 1915. * Trench Gascoigne, Gwendolen.
Among Pagodas and Fair Ladies
'' London: A. D. Innes, 1896. * Vaczek, Louis, and Gail Buckland. ''Travelers in Ancient Lands: A Portrait of the Middle East, 1839–1919.'' Boston: NYGS, 1981. . * Yokohama Archives of History Museum. ''Bakumatsu Nihon no fūkei to hitobito: F. Beato shashinshū'' (). Tokyo: Akashi Shoten, 2006.  . * Zannier, Italo. "Beato." In ''The Dictionary of Art'' (34 vols; New York: Grove, 1996; )
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* Zannier, Italo. ''Antonio e Felice Beato.'' Venice: Ikona Photo Gallery, 1983.  .


External links


Biography of Felice Beato
with links to 40 photographs. J. Paul Getty Museum.

(53 images including landscapes and portraits). The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. * " ttp://dl.lib.brown.edu/libweb/collections/askb/beato.php Photographic views of Lucknow taken after the Indian Mutiny. Brown University Library; Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection.
Photographs by Beato
"Japanese Old Photographs in Bakumatsu-Meiji Period". Nagasaki University Library.
Catalogue search for "Felice Beato"
with digitized reproductions o
134 photographs
Canadian Centre for Architecture The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA; ) is a Architecture museum, museum of architecture and research centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 1920, rue Baile (1920, Baile Street), between rue Fort (Fort Street) and rue Saint-Ma ...
. * . Asia through the Lens. Bachmann Eckenstein Art & Antiques, 2006. Archived by the
Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...
on 9 May 2007.
Catalogue search for "Beato, Felice"
New York Public Library.

(74 images from China and India). Wellcome Library, London. * ttps://www.fostinum.org/felice-beato.html Fostinum: Felice Beato* ttps://artsandculture.google.com/entity/felice-beato/m0dqhzt Felice Beato at Google Arts & Culture {{DEFAULTSORT:Beato, Felice 1830s births 1909 deaths 19th-century Italian photographers 19th-century British male artists 19th-century Italian male artists Architectural photographers British expatriates in China British expatriates in Japan British people of Italian descent British people of the Second Opium War British photojournalists Italian photojournalists Artists from Corfu Expatriate photographers in Egypt Photography in China Photography in Greece Photography in India Photography in Japan Photography in Myanmar Photography in Ukraine Pioneers of photography British portrait photographers British war photographers 20th-century Italian photographers 20th-century British male artists 20th-century Italian male artists 19th-century British photographers Photographers in Palestine (region)