An 'erwo tu' portrait of a Chinese woman
Collection
Identifier
JC-s037
Copyright
© 2011 Jamie Carstairs
Notes
University of Bristol - Historical Photographs of China reference number: JC-s037. Photograph purchased in Shanghai. Photographed in a photographer's studio, maybe in Shanghai? A multiple exposure portrait, of a type known as erwo tu (二我圖), i.e. an image of me and myself. This playful genre of portraiture has its origins in Chinese painting - and a scholarly tradition of self-reflexivity (Source: Claire Roberts 'Photography and China'). See 'One, and the Same – The Photographic Double in Republican China' by H. Tiffany Lee, published in 'Portraiture and Early Studio Photography in China and Japan' (edited by Luke Gartlan and Roberta Wue, Routledge, 2017).
Estimated Date
1930-1950
Material
Paper
Media
Black and white photograph
