John Thomson
1871
Yangtse Gorge, China

Albumen print, from collodion negative
Private collection
After a dry summer, the water levels in the Yangtse were unusually low when Thomson took this beautiful photograph. This view disappeared forever when the Gezhou Dam was built in the 1950s, raising the river levels substantially as one of China's first hydro-electric and flood-prevention schemes. (John Hannavy, 2008)
 
This photograph was included in the book by John Hannavy "Great Photographic Journeys - in the footsteps of Pioneer British Photographers" (Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2008 - # ISBN-10: 1904587542, # ISBN-13: 978-1904587545)
 
This photograph was originally published in:
 
John Thomson, Illustrations of China and Its People, a Series of Two Hundred Photographs with Letterpress Description of the Places and People Represented, 4 vols. (London: Sampson Low, Marston Low, and Searle, 1873 [vols. 1 and 2] and 1874 [vols. 3 and 4]), Vol.3, Plate XXIV. No.51. The Wu-Shan Gorge, Province of Szechuan
 
LL/31347