William Saunders (photographer) facts for kids
William Thomas Saunders (1832–1892) was a photographer from Britain. He moved to China and became a very important photographer in Shanghai. This was during the late Qing dynasty, which was the last royal family to rule China. Saunders was the first photographer known to add colours by hand to his photos in China.
Saunders' Life and Work
William Saunders was born in Britain in 1832. He first went to China in 1860 as an engineer. Later, he went back to Britain to study photography. He then returned to China with his camera gear.
In January 1862, Saunders opened one of Shanghai's first photo studios. It was located near the famous Astor House Hotel. This area was the main business center of Shanghai. Saunders' studio quickly became the city's top photography spot.
His studio stayed open for 25 years. This shows he was a very talented photographer. He also knew how to run a good business and market his work. Even though he mostly took portraits, Saunders loved China. He also photographed important events, local scenes, and people.
Saunders took some of the earliest photos of Shanghai and its people. This was a key time in Chinese history. Shanghai was becoming a major international city for trade. His photos give us a close look at the many different people in Shanghai. They show their traditional ways of life and jobs.
In his studio portraits, Saunders often used props. These props helped show what job someone had or their social standing. He was very interested in the clothes and hairstyles of the people he photographed. Many of his pictures of daily Chinese life were posed. This was because old cameras needed people to stay still for a long time. Still, his photos accurately show life in China during the 1800s. They helped people in Western countries learn about Chinese customs and traditions.
Saunders moved back to England in the late 1880s. But he kept traveling to China often. On one trip back to Shanghai, he became sick on the journey. His health got worse after he arrived. William Saunders passed away in December 1892 from bronchitis. He was 60 years old.
Saunders' Lasting Impact
In October 2016, an exhibition about Saunders' work was held in London. It was called Qing Dynasty Shanghai: The Photographs of William Saunders. This was the first show just for his photos. It displayed almost 40 hand-coloured albumen prints. These photos were borrowed from the Stephan Loewentheil China Photography Collection. This collection has the largest private group of photos from the late Qing dynasty.
Saunders' photos from the Stephan Loewentheil China Photography Collection were also shown in a huge exhibition. It was called Vision and Reflection: Photographs of China in the 19th Century from the Loewentheil Collection. This show took place at the Tsinghua University Art Museum in Beijing in 2019. It featured 120 amazing 19th-century photos of China. This included 10 hand-coloured albumen prints by Saunders.
