RGS-IBG archive

Herbert Ponting (1907)

Herbert Ponting was a professional photographer, best known for his images of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated 1910–13 expedition to the South Pole. He took his pictures on glass plates rather than on photographic film and sold many of them to London magazines. Although he’s most famous for his images of Antarctica, Ponting also travelled to, and photographed, several other countries, including China, where this image was taken. Ponting would have been a rare Western visitor to the Great

Wall of China in 1907, although at the time there was growing interest in the military relic, which was built and rebuilt between 6 BC and the 16th century to protect China’s northern borders from invaders. In 1909, US evangelist and explorer William Geil published a book called The Great Wall of China, which chronicled the wall’s construction. He famously, and dogmatically, spent three months measuring it from Shanhaiguan in Hebei to Jiayuguan in Gansu with his feet. As Geil’s book circulated in Europe, the wall became China’s calling card and its bloody history (an estimated two to three million people died during construction) became increasingly well known.

Within China itself, political change was stirring. At the time of Ponting’s visit, the country was still under the rule of the Qing dynasty. However, five years later, on 1 January 1912, the Xinhai Revolution saw the dynasty overthrown and 2,000 years of Chinese imperial rule came to an end.