LIBRARY
The Ochre Space houses the personal library of João Miguel Barros, a collection of over three thousand photography books. This meticulously curated collection is shaped by diverse thematic lines, with a strong emphasis on post-war Japanese photobooks and works by Chinese photographers who began gaining prominence in the late 1990s.
The library also features works by major names in European and American photography, as well as many emerging authors. It predominantly consists of first editions of books by all these renowned photographers.
Although the library is private, it can be accessed exceptionally by researchers or other individuals who submit a justified request.
This section will make available the titles and authors of all cataloged works. This is an ongoing project, as the collection continues to evolve and grow. The aim is to build a personal, perhaps intimate, narrative of photography through the library’s remarkable holdings.
The Ochre Space Library
ENCYCLOPEDIA
Photography in China
Photography arrived in China in the 1860s with Western photographers, most of whom took portraits.
One of the best known of these photographers was Milton Miller, an American who owned a photography studio in Hong Kong. He took formal portraits of Cantonese merchants, Mandarins and their families in the early 1860s. The other is the Scottish photographer John Thomson (1837-1921), who owned a photographic studio in Hong Kong. Unlike Miller’s subjects, Thomson’s were peasants and workers – the underclass of the late 1860s and early 1870s.
Studios run by Western photographers provided practical training for Chinese photographers and produced some important photographers. Afong Lai and Mee Cheung were active during this period, and both managed to turn their interest to commercial advantage. Afong was active from the 1860s to the 1880s, and in 1937 he published a photo album in Shanghai entitled The Sino-Japanese Hostilities, which presented 110 black-and-white photographs that were seen primarily as historical documents. Some of his landscapes, however, express aesthetic qualities reminiscent of traditional Chinese painting.
Ochre Space features a bookstore offering a carefully curated selection of photography books that are rarely available in Portugal.
These books can be purchased in person during public events or ordered online, providing a unique opportunity for collectors and enthusiasts to access hard-to-find works.
