Albumen Photo Album of Burma, India, Malaysia, China, Etc.

There are thirty-four leaves and seventy-eight breathtaking photographs in this 11 1/4" x 15 1/2" photo album with albumen prints from Burma, Ceylon, India, Malaysia, China and perhaps Thailand and Tibet, etc. Within the album are studio portraits with wonderfully detailed settings, as well as more informal outdoor portraits and photos of scenes in a variety of spaces. To see people from so many cultures represented so beautifully in their respective cultural power is an amazing thing to witness. The album displays an astonishing array of lives and livelihoods across Asia, from people in fantastic traditional dress, to individuals who appear to be of great importance dripping in jewels, to dancers, ritual performers and snake handlers, to farmers and harvesters, to children, families, and groups of women, to grievers sitting with the dead, to beggars, to elephant handlers, to prostitutes, to criminals punished, to village life, to barbers, to monks and temples, to traditional doctors and nurses, to a tiger hunt, to chiefs and merchants, and even a cricket match. Each image captured, from beggar to palace, was done so with an immaculate eye; the framing and exposure and technical skill of the photos, as well as the poses of each subject, let the eye linger on each striking and evocative shot. A few photos have photographer marks and include P. Klier of Rangoon, Skeen & Co., G.R. Lambert, Scowen, C.A. Co Ltd, and at least one blind stamp that I cannot make out. Some are identified within the negative and include: Kandian Chief, Burmese Lady, Malay Lady, Malay Women, Tamil Girl, Hindu Beggar, Natives from Bhatan, Javanese Dancing Girls, Siamese Lady, Mandarin, Chinese Girls, Chinese Doctor, Siamese Nurse, Hindoo Girl, Dyak Chief, Sulton of Johore and Tiger Hunt, etc. Fourty-two of the photos measure 4" x 5 1/4," and one measures 4 1/2" x 6." One is dated 1899, one looks to be dated 1892 and most look to be from the late 1880's to 1890's. "H.D." is embossed in girl on the cover. Album itself is in poor condition Both covers are detached and the mounts have some damp staining. The photos are in mostly very good condition. A truly beautiful and important archive of life at the time across cultures.

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