
"Young Barbers" (c.1870) Unattributed —
Stephan Loewentheil's exhaustive photo archive shines a new light on life in 19th-century China. Scroll through to see more images from his collection.

"Transportation on the Streets of Shanghai" (c.1878) Unattributed —
A number of the photos in Loewentheil's collection were taken by unidentified artists.

"Weaver" (1865) by William Saunders —
The 15,000-strong photo collection features everyday Chinese tradespeople from the time, like this weaver.

"Actors" (1870) by Lai Afong —
After foreigners introduced cameras to China, pioneering figures like Lai Afong produced portraits, landscapes and cityscapes that were, in Loewentheil's eyes, equal in quality to those being produced in the West.

"Jade Belt Bridge" (1870s) by Thomas Child —
Like many of the early Western photographers, Thomas Child sold his photos to magazines and book publishers.

Li Hongzhang" (c.1870) by Liang Shitai —
Like in the West, Chinese pu