S3-E8 - Early Photos of Taiwan - by John Thomson - 1871 

Some of the earliest photos we have of Taiwan were
taken by a British photographer who visited the
southwest of the island in 1871. Taking pics
back then was far from “point and shoot.” It was
"get inside portable darkroom, grab delicate glass plate,
cover with chemical A, then B, then C, then expose the plate to
light, then more...” and on and on. We owe John Thomson a debt of
gratitude for his short but
significant expedition to “photograph wild
Formosa!” In particular, his images of the “Pingpu” (Plains)
Indigenous peoples of the Tainan and Kaohsiung hinterlands
captured the twilight of their old ways.





To see Thomson’s photographs, and for additional information,
visit www.formosafiles.com