Erwo Xuan

The ERWO XUAN studio (二我軒照相馆 Me and Myself Studio) in Hangzhou (Hangchow) was established during the Guangxu period (1875–1908) and managed by Yu Yinchu. Erwo Xuan was the first studio in Hangzhou to use electric light. Notably, Sun Yat-sen was photographed there. The studio published an album of 48 scenic views of Hangzhou, entitled 西湖風景 (Xihu fengjing), translated as ‘West Lake Landscape’ or 'Scenery of the West Lake'. The photographs in this album (HPC reference Ar01 in the William Armstrong Collection) included the grave sites of the revolutionary martyrs Xu Xilin (徐锡麟, 1873-1907) - Ar01-032 - and Qiu Jin (秋瑾, 1875-1907)  - Ar01-030 and Ar01-031. The album was submitted to the 1910 Nanyang Industrial Exposition and awarded a medal. Source: Claire Roberts Photography and China.