Histories of photography and filmmaking have generally neglected the visual practices of missionaries. Although previous studies of Chinese photography have discussed the contributions of missionaries in the nineteenth century, such as Scottish missionary doctor John Dudgeon's photographic manual for beginners in 1873, few studies have focused on the visual practices of missionaries. Since the invention of photography, foreign missionaries in China have played a vital role in producing, circulating, and accumulating diverse images. The images—both still and moving—emerged as complex translations of missionary experiences and transcriptions of religious, cultural, and national identities.
Joseph W. Ho provides a cross-cultural history of American missionary visual practices. Focusing on the American missionaries' images and image making in China from the 1920s to the early 1950s, the book explores how missionaries employed the camera as an agent that facilitated the translations of missionary experiences and the shaping of cross-cultural identities. The book's five chapters...
