| Picturing the Chinese |
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| Culture | |
| Wednesday, 03 December 2008 | |
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Picturing the Chinese Photographer Grace Lau draws upon research looking at photographs taken in China between the decades from the Opium Wars to the Boxer Rebellion which resulted in her book, Picturing the Chinese. She will examine the way in which Victorian colonialists recorded the Chinese in studio portraits, how missionaries and scientists documented their subjects and how photographers such as John Thomas categorised ‘types’. The historical context provides a dramatic backdrop to these rare photographs which she has unearthed from various archives and collections. Grace Lau’s own subsequent exhibition is informed by this research. In a role-reversal, she constructed a Chinese portrait studio in Hastings and photographed 21st century ‘types’ of exotic tourists and locals. Grace Lau was born in London to Sichuanese parents. She has a MA in Photography: History and Culture from the University of the Arts in London. Her first book, Adults in Wonderland (1997, Serpents Tail), covers the sub-culture fetish scene in London. Her work has been exhibited widely at venues including Photofusion, Aberystwyth Arts Centre and Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. Asia House Friends, Meridian Society Members & Concs £5, Dimsum readers £5 when quoting this article. Others £8
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