© Wellcome Library, London

This exceptional exhibition retraced the history of photography through its various inventions, and its first practice in Macao and China.

170 items from the collections of the Musée Nicéphore Niépce in Chalon-sur-Saône were displayed, among them the first photographic apparatus—the camera obscura of Niépce, the inventor of photography, and a large selection of daguerreotypes. An innovative museographic installation allowed stereoscopic views to be projected in relief.

The second part of the exhibition was made up of a selection of photographs on albumin paper from the BNF, the Société de Géographie, the Musée Guimet and the Macao Museum. In 1844, Jules Itier took the first known photos of Macao: contemporary prints made from his original daguerreotypes from the Musée Français de la Photographie were also included. To complete this selection, additional prints were made from originals in English and American collections (Wellcome Library, London; a private collection, London; Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center of the University of Texas, Austin).

John Thomson
Ruin of church, Macao, China, 1872 (dét.), 1870
négatif sur plaque de verre au collodion, 30.5 x 25.5 cm