1860 · Albumen silver print from a glass negative
After the Capture of the Taku Forts
Felice Beato
Why it matters
Beato’s photograph replaced the theatrical instant of victory with the stillness of its aftermath. Photography’s claim to direct witness made destroyed defences and dead soldiers available as apparently neutral evidence of Qing defeat, even though the camera framed only the ground the invading army had just taken.
- Publication
- Photograph made during the Anglo-French campaign in the Second Opium War
- Holding institution
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Shelfmark
- 2005.100.72
Beato, Felice. After the Capture of the Taku Forts, 1860. Albumen silver print from glass negative. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005.100.72.
