Korea, 1897

Extent:

224 prints

Scope and content:

Shockley seems to have visited Korea at least twice: during the period of his earlier travels in China, 1897-1899, and from May to August, 1902, near present-day Pyonyang, where he surveyed the Gwendoline (Ap-unsan) gold mines. He took many photographs of remote and mountainous mining districts, taking pictures of country people in their dwellings; local and migrant workers; inhabitants and officials in villages he visited. There seem to be Japanese officials or soldiers in some images, as well as Europeans and their families. As with China, the images of local people show a great variety of dress for men and women, and Shockley's captions often refer to the social status conveyed by dress, but also to its practical purpose.

There are also images of fields, mountain landscapes, domestic animals and various conveyances, and work scenes such as panning, drilling, surveying, and mining. Many of these locations may overlap with what was then known as Manchuria, China; images from these regions form one of the largest series found in the collection.

Shockley also spent some time in Seoul, where he photographed street scenes and tourist locations such as the Gyeongbok palace complex, and visited diplomat Sir John Newell Jordan; he also traveled to Chemulpo (now Incheon), where he photographed the harbor and other local sites, and visited with and photographed businessman and longtime resident Walter Townsend and his family, including his Japanese wife and young adopted daughter Margaret Townsend.

Processing information:

Titles have been transcribed as they appear in original captions on the backs of prints. Descriptive captions and Chinese translations of titles were supplied by library staff. Duplicate prints are indicated by an extension ".2" after the image identifier.

Contents

Using These Materials