Photographer Eliphalet Brown at work near temple in Tumai, Lew Chew (now Okinawa).

An interesting composition "Drawn from Nature" by William Heine, with "Figures by Brown". The expedition photographer, Eliphalet Brown, is shown in the middle ground with his camera. A Japanese assistent is holding a plate-holder. Another member of the expedition is depicted in the foreground. The camera of Eliphalet Brown is being pointed at three seated Japanese men. Another lithograph titled "Afternoon gossip, Lew Chew" shows these same tree seated men [Geoffrey Batchen, 2018]. This print provides an interesting insight into the working methods of a photographer in the 19th century.

The lithograph was printed after a sketch on the scene by William Heine with additions by Brown. During the American navy expedition between May 1853 and August 1854, Brown Jr. exposed about 400 daguerreotypes during the expedition. Nineteen of them were translated into lithographic images for Commodore Perry's "Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan...". This lithograph is printed by Ackermann, 379 Broadway NY.

It was fashionable in the 19th century to print a background color in addition to the black of the print. This was a first step towards later color lithography.

image ca. 9 x 11 cm
album page ca. 22.2 x 28.7 cm

ca. 1856

Literature
Geoffrey Batchen: Apparitions Photography and Dissemination, NAMU Power Publications, 2018 (Fig. 68, p. 152)