From the Courts of Siam to the Streets of London: The remarkable career of John Thomson (1837-1921)

Описание: A talk given by Dr Stephen Murphy of SOAS, University of London to the Streatham Society on 3rd March 2026

The talk commences with a brief tribute to a longstanding member and trustee of the Streatham Society who sadly passed away in early February 2026.

There a short Q and A at the end of the talk.

Stephen A. Murphy is Pratapaditya Pal Senior Lecturer in Curating and Museology of Asian Art at SOAS, University of London. He specializes in the art and archaeology of Buddhism and Hinduism in first millennium CE Southeast Asia with a focus on Thailand and Laos. He has a particular interest in the 7th to 9th centuries CE as well as maritime connectivity between Southeast Asian cultures, Tang China, and the Indian Ocean world in general. His museological focus engages with issues of restitution and curation of Asian art.

Often credited as one of the world’s earliest photojournalists, Scottish photographer John Thomson rose to fame in the mid to late nineteenth century by documenting the lives of all sections of society. Whether it be aristocrats such as King Mongkut of Siam, Manchu soldiers in Fujian, or the flower sellers of Covent Garden, he treated them all with equal sensitivity, grace and skill. He had an innate ability to capture the social worlds he travelled through in stunning realism.
This talk traces his remarkable career from the courts of Siam to the jungles of Cambodia, through the landscapes of China, to the streets of London. Throughout his life, Thomson perfected his photographic oeuvre using the glass plate negative technique. In doing so he has bequeathed to us one of the most remarkable and wide-ranging visual records of nineteenth century society.

Image Source : Image caption
Amoy, Fukien province, China: two Manchu soldiers with John Thomson. Photograph by John Thomson, 1871. Wellcome Collection. Source: Wellcome Collection