Among the more than 100 foreign photographers who came to China, including "Chinese Images Taken by Foreigners: 1844-1949", there were ten female photographers. They came to a foreign country to start an adventure, and recorded what they saw along the way from a female perspective, more delicately and sensitively. The picture shows Mrs. Latham's photograph of the Water Moon Guanyin at the Fahai Zen Temple. Beijing, 1937. Mrs. Latham, a photojournalist of the British "London News Illustrated", found the exquisite murals in the temple in 1937 at the Fahai Zen Temple in the West Hill of Beiping (Beijing) and photographed them, leaving us with the original image of the murals of the Fahai Zen Temple.
Shakya Buddha's protector, the god Brahma, and his three ladies. Beijing, 1937. Mrs. Latham photographed.
Part of the Fahai Zen Temple's "Emperor's Brahma Diagram". Beijing, 1937. Mrs. Latham photographed.
As the first American war correspondent, Margaret Bourke-White took a large number of news and people photos in Chongqing during the Chinese War of Resistance, which added a bright touch to documentary photography. The picture shows Chinese orphans singing a song from "Bomber" during World War II while pointing to the sky and imagining bombers in the air. Chongqing, 1941.
Chinese orphans from World War II sang a song from "Bomber" while crouching down to prepare for air raids. Chongqing, 1941. Margaret Burke-White photographed.
As a member of the American International Public Service, Ms. Margaret Stanley has done a lot of useful work for the revolutionary cause of the Chinese people, and has taken many photos reflecting the wartime Yan'an regional hospital and nursery school, leaving us with precious cultural historical materials. The picture shows the mother and child photographed. Yan'an, 1947.
The wounded at the International Peace Hospital bask in the sun outside the cave. 1947–1948. Photographed by Margaret Stanley
The cave dwellings in the villages near Yan'an were arranged as hospital wards. 1947. Photographed by Margaret Stanley
Excerpted from "Chinese Images Taken by Foreigners 1844-1949", edited by Zhang Ming and published by China Photography Publishing House in January 2018.