Photography of Samurai by Felice Beato

Felice Beato, who was born in Venice but became a British citizen by virtue of his family’s residence in Corfu which was a UK protectorate at the time, began his photographic career with a trip to Constantinople, now Istanbul, alongside Robertson who later became his business partner and brother-in-law.
When war broke out in the Crimea in 1855, Beato journeyed to Balaklava to document the progress of the conflict – and, in the process, became one of the world’s first war photographers.

Later, he journeyed to India before arriving in China in 1860 where he photographed the progress of the Anglo-French military expedition slugging it out against the indigenous Qing Dynasty in the Second Opium War.
His photographs of China, some of the earliest ever taken, include numerous shots of Victorian Hong Kong and a gruesome set featuring the Taku Forts surrounded by the bodies of Chinese troops who died defending them against the British.

Three years later, Beato moved to Japan where he remained until 1877. Based in Yokohama, he was given an unusually large amount of freedom by the ruling Shogunate which allowed him to tour the country, taking photos as he went. The photographs, which date from between 1863 and 1877, taken by Felice Beato are among the earliest examples of coloured photography ever produced.