Virtual Shanghai

Shanghai Urban Space in Time

Editor: Christian Henriot (IAO - Institut Universitaire de France)

->Overview

Images

Visual Narratives

“Shanghai in Images” forms the original core project that laid the basis for the development of the Virtual Shanghai platform. This image database presents a collection of photographs of the great metropolis from the late nineteenth century to today. Although it originally centred on Shanghai, the development of collections of historical photographs and other visual materials is being extended to include other Chinese cities or even countries. The Institut d'Asie Orientale is about to open a new portal entitled Visual Cultures in East Asia to these resources and projects.

Photography in China

Photography in China was born of an historical coincidence. When the treaty ports in China were opened to international trade in 1842, photography was newly born, and ready to become of universal use throughout the world. In China, the recording of scenes, places and events was extensive from the beginning and these images are now an invaluable source of information on the period. Progress was fast and both technological and cultural changes allowed the already strong position of photography to be dramatically strengthened again in the twentieth century. The images that reached us are of all kinds, from the straight photographic print to the glass slide or the book or journal illustration and postcard. Likewise, photographs were commercial or private, the work of professional or amateur photographers, created and/or collected by Chinese or foreigners. What they all have in common is that most of what is shown in the early photographs of China, either the way of life or the architecture, is now history (for a reference site on photography in China, see the Bibliography of China related historical Photography).

Photography is used increasingly throughout the world as a valuable resource for historical research. Nevertheless, it has generally been neglected in Chinese studies. Scholars, students and even the larger public concerned with this region who might benefit from the use of these resources are either unaware of their existence or have no idea of where to look for such material. This is precisely one of the objectives of the project to make as many valuable photographs as possible available on-line.

Objectives

“Shanghai in Images” has a triple vocation:

1. It aims to make available to the public a large collection of photographs of Shanghai in pre- and post-Revolutionary China that permits to “see” the past, to visualize it. In particular, it has an educational vocation aimed at students interested in China, in Shanghai or also in architecture.

2. It is meant to offer to scholars of all disciplines, research material that is otherwise often flawed, little known or scattered throughout a vast range of institutions. The close and systematic observation of photographs allows glimpses of a past which is generally visually inaccessible.

3. It hopes to contribute to the formation of an “historic memory” of Shanghai, and the writing of a visual “biography” of the city. Thanks to the links made with the cartographic database, it is not only possible to locate the places represented in the photographs, but also to develop a history of the city across a series of historical maps.

The Institut d’Asie Orientale (email: iao@ens-lsh.fr) and the Center for Chinese Studies (email: elevine@.berkeley.edu ) are prepared to receive as donations or for electronic preservation any photographic collection on Shanghai and China before and after 1949. Information pertaining to possible collections shall be highly appreciated. The digitizing of the photographs in no way indicates a loss of property rights for the owner of those photographs. We guarantee that the diffusion of the photographs on the Internet is conditioned upon prior approval by the owner. The publication online is customized so as not to allow print reproduction for commercial purposes.

Page modified on 21 April 2009