Research Guides: Early Photography in Asia: Southeast Asia

Rare and Distinctive Collections

rad@colorado.edu

Website

Classroom: Norlin N345

Reading Room: Norlin M350B

Rare Books Librarian

Sean Babbs

Email Me

East Asian Librarian

Xiang Li

Contact:

xiang.li@colorado.edu

(303) 492-7454

Subjects: Asian Languages & Civilizations

Introduction

The University of Colorado Boulder Libraries holds a variety of 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 may reinforce orientalist and colonial ideologies and contribute to an “othering” of local people.

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.

Mainland Southeast Asian Countries - Photographs in the CU Boulder Libraries

Digitized photographs

8 Photographs of the Karen Ethnic Group in Myanmar (Burma), 1865-1880
8 photographs of the Karen people in Myanmar/Burma (p. 61-65) in an album presumably made by a British citizen that is mostly filled with images from Europe.
Set of 19 Photographs of British Colonial Burma (Myanmar), 1885-1895
A set of 19 photographs of British colonial Burma (Myanmar), very likely taken by British colonists who lived in the area in the late 19th century. One of the photographs in the set is of a group of British people outside a large mansion, who may have been those taking the photographs.
George West Philleo Photograph Albums, 1917-1924
George West Philleo, an American engineer, worked in Myanmar (Burma) and China between 1917 and 1924. CU holds four of his photograph albums from this period and a daily journal. The photographs and albums are mostly unlabeled, making it difficult to discern exact locations, but volume 2 and 3 include images from Myanmar (Burma).

Photographs not digitized (access in the RaD reading room)

Photographs of colonial-era Myanmar (Burma), 1890-1900
A collection of 47 gelatin silver photographs taken in British colonial Myanmar (Burma) in the late nineteenth century, likely owned by a French traveler or colonial agent in Indochina. Many images focus on Burmese people and culture, including Buddhist religious groups, monasteries, and ceremonies. Specific locations include Yangon (sheets 5-6), Myanaung (sheet 7), Mandalay (sheets 8-19), Amarapura (sheet 21), Tharrawaddy (sheets 22-23), and Bhamo (sheet 24). A final set of images include portraits and group photographs of various Burmese peoples (sheets 31-42).
Photograph album of a Canadian engineer, 1913-1924
A photograph album of a Canadian engineer who traveled widely in the early twentieth century. The final group of photographs in the album include images of Myanmar (Burma), where he was working to find oil in the country.

Digitized photographs

European Travel Album to Sumatra and Thailand, 1934
A photograph album of a European couple during their travels to Sumatra and Bangkok in 1934. The second half of the album (p. 18-37) consists of photographs in Thailand (with a few small images from Sumatra interspersed), particularly showing Bangkok's Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew Temple complex but also coastal villages in Thailand, probably in or around Bangkok.

Photographs not digitized (access in the RaD reading room)

14 original photographs of Thailand by Robert Lenz, 1890s
A collection of 14 albumen and gelatin silver photographs taken in Thailand (Siam) in the late nineteenth century. The first six images focus on villages and people along canals and waterways in the Bangkok area. The rest focus on pagodas and temples in Bangkok, including Wat Arun, Wat Paknam, and the Wat Phra Kaew complex. One image (photo 13) is of three Thai female dancers. The prints were likely owned by a French traveler or colonial agent in Indochina.

Digitized photographs

Photograph album of colonial French Indochina, 1890-1900
A photograph album of French Indochina in the 1890s, taken by a French colonial resident of the area. The photographs in the album are not arranged well and only some are labeled. Most of the images, however, are of Vietnam, particularly Saigon. Other places in Southern Vietnam include Tan An (p. 4 and 6), Tra Vinh (p. 7-9), Can Tho (p. 10), Bac Lieu (p. 13), Soc Trang, the mansion and tomb of Tran Ba Loc in Ca Bei (p. 22 and 24) and Vietnamese events and celebrations (p. 27, 29, and 39).

Photographs not digitized (access in the RaD reading room)

Photograph album of Southern Vietnam, c. 1870-1895
A photograph album showing people and buildings in Southern Vietnam and surrounding areas, at the time colonized by France and called Indochina. The majority of the images document Ho Chi Minh City (then Saigon), but others include the surrounding rivers and river life, Vang Tau, native villages, and colonial French residencies, businesses, and people.
French colonial photograph album of Northern Vietnam, 1885-1895
A photograph album of 68 images taken in French colonial Northern Vietnam in the late nineteenth century. The owner of the album likely compiled it using original photographs as well as published photographic prints from French photographers. The images depict various cities, local peoples, and French colonists and colonial buildings. Locations include Hanoi, Viet Tri, Haiphong, Lang Son, Do Son, Bat Bac, and more.
Tonkin Types, 1890s
A small photograph album with images of native people in Northern Vietnam (then Indochina) in the late 1800s. The photographs were taken by French colonial photographers.

Digitized photographs

Photograph album of colonial French Indochina, 1890-1900
One photograph album containing 76 original albumen and gelatin silver photographs of French Indochina in the 1890s. Images were taken by a French colonial resident of the area, most include handwritten captions in French. The photographs in the album are not arranged well and only some are labeled. However, a number show Angkor Wat in Cambodia (p. 25, 27, 29, 33). Other unlabeled photographs could have been taken in Cambodia.

Digitized photographs

Photograph album of colonial French Indochina, 1890-1900
One photograph album containing 76 original albumen and gelatin silver photographs of French Indochina in the 1890s. Images were taken by a French colonial resident of the area, most include handwritten captions in French. While most of the photographs are of places in Vietnam or Cambodia, two images show Lao people (p. 35).

Maritime Southeast Asian Countries - Photographs in the CU Boulder Libraries

Digitized photographs

Photograph album of colonial Indonesia, New Guinea and Pacific Islands, 1900-1905
A photograph album that includes 85 views of Java, Ambon, Sulawesi and Banda Islands (p. 4-51). Most photographs have manuscript captions in ink on the mounts related to either the individual image or to groups of images.
European Travel Album to Sumatra and Thailand, 1934
A photograph album of a European couple during their travels to Sumatra and Bangkok in 1934. The first half of the album (p. 3-17) contains photographs in Northern and Western Sumatra, including many images of Minangkabau houses and other indigenous village architecture. While the photographs are not labeled, identified cities include Bukittinggi and Medan. The photographs also show village markets, orangutans, jungles, and coasts.

Photographs not digitized (access in the RaD reading room)

Photograph album of a Danish traveler to colonial Sumatra, 1918-1923
A personal photograph album of a Danish traveler or businessperson to the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Many of the images depict aspects of tobacco plantations ad production run by Dutch companies, including the Deli company of North Sumatra. The images also depict various aspects of life of Dutch colonists, western travelers, and indigenous people, including dinners, a wedding, travel, villages, and more.
Photograph album of the banana trade in East Java, 1925
An album of 12 photographs that record the harvest and transport of bananas in the busy coastal port of Banjoewangi (now Banyuwani) in the then Dutch East Indies (Indonesia).

Photographs not digitized (access in the RaD reading room)

Photograph album of East Malaysia and Shanghai, China by Clement Charles Newson, 1908-1912.
A photograph album by Clement Charles Newson of East Malaysia and Shanghai, China. The images in Malaysia include many in Sandakan and the Sabah state (then British North Borneo), as well as others from the upper Rajang River in the Sarawak state. Many of these images show indigenous peoples (the Dayak, Kenyah, and Dusun peoples) and Sandakan residents, as well as daily life for British colonizers.

Digitized photographs

18 photographs of Manila from an album of ship tours of Japan, China, and the Pacific Ocean, 1900
An album compiled with photographs from ship tours of Japan, China, and other locations in the Pacific Ocean. Three of the pages of photographs are of Manila, Philippines (p. 13-15) just after the Spanish-American War.
8 Photographs of Manila, taken by Albert Kane in the 1930s
Albert Kane was an American who traveled in Asia during the 1930s. While mostly residing in China and Japan, he also took some photographs in Manila, Philippines.

Photographs not digitized (access in the RaD reading room)

Photograph album of California and the Philippines, c. 1910-1920
A large photograph album of an unknown American family in California. A number of images, including a few commercially produced images, show people and places in the Philippines, particularly around Manila.
Photograph album of Japan, the Philippines, and Washington state, c. 1908-1918
A personal photograph album likely compiled by an American family who lived in Washington state and who traveled around the Pacific Ocean in the early twentieth century. The photographs are mostly labeled but are not arranged in much of an order. 20 of the images show the Philippines, mostly Manila and San Fernando.

Other Digitized Early Photographs in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia Visions Collection (Cornell University)
A digital library of books and photograph albums of European travel accounts in the region (particularly focused on the pre-modern period).
The Southeast Asian Images and Texts Project (University of Wisconsin - Madison)
Brings together a large number of photographs of Southeast Asia from a variety of digital libraries. Search and filter for results by country or by date.
Southeast Asian and Caribbean Images (Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies)
A massive digital library of nearly 200,000 photographs that lack most metadata besides titles and dates. Keyword searches will mostly search titles, but filters won't work well since most photographs aren't tagged.
Southeast Asian Digital Library (University of Northern Illinois)
A digital library bringing together many US institutions' digital materials. However, it does not include very many historical photographs of the region.
American Geographical Society Library (University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee)
A very large collection of digitized photographs taken around Asia collected by or taken for the American Geographical Society. You will need to search/filter to find relevant materials.
Harvard Digital Collections
A large database of millions of digitized photographs held by Harvard. Search by country, city, and more to find those related to Southeast Asia.
Calisphere (All University of California Institutions)
A large repository of digitized items and photographs from the many schools in the University of California system. It includes a variety of Southeast Asian photographs; search by country, city, etc. to narrow your results.
Library of Congress Digitized Photographs
The US Library of Congress holds many photographs of Southeast Asia. Search by country, city, etc.