The Scottish photographer John Thomson began his career in 1862 in Singapore, where he set up his first studio. The island provided a base from which he embarked on several trips in the region to build up his portfolio of images. He moved to Bangkok in 1865, then Hong Kong in 1868. He travelled extensively in China, where he took many iconic and celebrated photographs. Upon his return to Britain in 1872, he embarked on creating his greatest work, Street Life of London (1877), which is thought to have been influenced by his years in Asia.Thomson’s Singapore period is perhaps the most important, yet least understood, phase of his career. It was in Singapore that he first honed his skill in portraiture. Among his diverse subjects – the residents of Singapore – Thomson photographed some women dressed in styles worn typically by Peranakan women. In other photographs from the same period, Peranakan women are seated in conventional Peranakan fashion, with their legs set apart, and feet pointing outwards. The elegant Western-style poses of the young nyonyas in Thomson’s images therefore suggest they were contrived by the photographer. One of the photographer’s favourite props was an ornately carved high-backed chair, probably made in Mumbai, that frequently appears in his photographs.The carte de visite (visiting card) – about the size of today’s business cards – was a popular format in the 19th century,. It was small and easy to keep.
