Early Photography in Asia: Southeast Asia

The University of Colorado Boulder Libraries holds a variety of original early photographs of Southeast Asia. As a heavily colonized region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the photographs are overwhelmingly from a colonial/western perspective. Therefore, although important documentary evidence of life in the region, it is important to view these images with a critical eye and consider how these photographs often reinforce colonial ideologies and contribute to an “othering” of local people.

The bottom of this page includes links to other major digital libraries of original early photographs of Southeast Asia. 

The Rare Books Collection also holds published photography books about or from the region during this period. They can be found using the library catalog search and filter to a shelving location of "Rare Books Collection." 

Note that the library does not currently have original colonial-era photographs of Brunei or East Timor. However, there are published photography books on these two countries both in the rare books stacks and in the circulating library collection.