Sheying — Sombras de China 1850–1900, Clark Worswick

Sheying (摄影）, the Chinese term for photography, here becomes a poetic lens through which the forgotten soul of 19th-century China is rendered visible. This exquisitely produced volume, curated by photography historian Clark Worswick, presents a haunting selection of images from the dawn of photographic practice in China—between 1850 and 1900. These images, many of them unpublished until this edition, illuminate the waning years of the Qing Dynasty with extraordinary clarity and subtlety.

From portraits of courtesans and laborers to imperial officials and street rituals, the photographs evoke both ethnographic detail and cinematic intimacy. The volume is part of the TurnerPhoto CHINA collection, and its Spanish-language edition marks the first time this extraordinary archive is made available to a European public. Worswick’s accompanying texts offer sharp historical insights while maintaining a reverent distance from the subjects—a rare editorial tone that respects the silences within the images.

Published with a minimal and elegant design, the book balances scholarship and visual poetry, making it essential for collectors of early photography, sinologists, and those drawn to the quiet magnetism of historical shadows.

Technical Sheet

• Object: Photographic Art Book
• Title: Sheying — Sombras de China 1850–1900
• Artist / Author: Clark Worswick
• Date: Published in early 2000s (exact date not visible)
• Technique / Printing Method: Offset printing
• Medium / Materials: Paperbound book with dust jacket and promotional bellyband
• Language: Spanish
• Pages: Approx. 200 (not visible but standard for the edition)
• Publisher / Editor: TurnerPhoto CHINA
• Condition: NEW