Archiving Hong Kong's Past: Historical Photographs

Description

Since 2006, Robert Bickers has directed the 'Historical Photographs of China' project, which has published online over 25,000 photographs, mainly from previously unseen family collections, with the earliest dating to the late 1850s. There were large collections and tiny ones; they came from Chinese politicians and missionaries, from policemen and doctors; they were taken by very famous professionals, and from otherwise obscure snapshotters.

In this talk he will outline how this unique and accidental project came about and how it grew, how it has been used, and he will introduce some of the collections. He will also outline plans for the future, with a new focus on Hong Kong supported by the University of Bristol’s Hong Kong History Centre.

Period	7 Apr 2025
Held at	Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong branch, Hong Kong
Degree of Recognition	International