Swatow (Shantou), Kwangtung (Guangdong) province, China: Chinese labourers. Photograph by John Thomson, 1871.

Seven men (labourers, then known as coolies), six standing, one squatting, on a balcony, against a pierced balustrade. Other buildings and a scarp in the background. The same setting, and the same men, as in Thomson's negative number 806

In the mid-19th century, each year a large number of labourers from Shantou and nearby regions left their homes to work on plantations in Cochin China (Vietnam), Siam (Thailand) and the Straits of Malacca. Chinese labourers were much in demand in southeast Asia because of their willingness to undertake the hardest work. For these economic migrants, the main attraction of working abroad was the pay. At two or three dollars a month, their earnings were much higher than what they could receive back home. After having saved enough money, many would return home and buy a plot of land

1871

1 photograph : glass photonegative, wet collodion : stereograph

Swatow natives, China Bears Thomson's negative number: "805"

This is one of a collection of original glass negatives made by John Thomson. The negatives, made between 1868 and 1872, were purchased from Thomson by Sir Henry Wellcome in 1921

China through the lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872, Beijing: Beijing World Art Museum, 2009, p. 142 (reproduced)

Wellcome Collection 19876i