John Ashton Papillon (1838–1891) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
photographer
A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs.
Duties and types of photograp ...
and
Royal Engineer
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
who was commissioned to accompany and photographically document the Anglo-French military expedition to northern China during 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 ...
in 1860. Papillon produced images taken from between Canton 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 ...
but became ill and was evacuated on 29 September 1860 before completing his mission.
References
* Bennett, Terry. ''History of Photography in China, 1842-1860'' (London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd., 2009). (hbk), (hbk)
* Thiriez, Régine. ''Barbarian Lens: Western Photographers of the Qianlong Emperor's European Palaces'' (Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach, 1998), 6.
19th-century British photographers
British people of the Second Opium War
British war photographers
Photography in China
1838 births
1891 deaths
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