Photographers and Photography
Charles Bell (1870-1945)
Civil servant, scholar and author on Tibetan history and culture
- view photographs taken by Bell
- view the Bell Collection (PRM)
- view map of Bell's travels
- read a list of Bell's day to day activities in Lhasa & related photographs
- view Bell's "Dalai Lama" lantern slide lecture
- view Bell's "Year in Lhasa" lantern slide lecture
- view photographs in 'Tibet Past & Present', Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1924
- view photographs in 'The People of Tibet', Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1928
- view photographs in 'Portrait of the Dalai Lama', London: Collins, 1946
1891 Joins the Indian Civil Service
1900 Posted to Darjeeling - starts to learn Tibetan
1908 Appointed Political Officer for Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet
1910 Meets the 13th Dalai Lama during his exile from Tibet
1913 Advisor on the McMahon Treaty
1918 Bell leaves the Civil Service to devote himself to the study of Tibet
1919 Resumes as Political Officer for Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet on resignation of his successor
1920 Leads diplomatic mission to Lhasa - stays for best part of a year
1921 Leaves the Civil Service to concentrate on writing about Tibet
1922 Awarded a Knighthood
Read more about Bell
Frederick Spencer Chapman (1907-1971)
Explorer, writer, soldier and photographer
- view photographs taken by Chapman
- view the Chapman Collection (PRM)
- read a list of Chapman's day to day activities in Lhasa & related photographs
- view photographs in 'Lhasa the Holy City', London: Chatto and Windus, 1940
1936 Joined a Himalayan climbing expedition
1936 Appointed Secretary to the Gould Mission to Lhasa
1937 Lead an expedition to Chomolhari becoming one of the first mountaineers to reach its summit
Read more about Chapman
Arthur Hopkinson (1894-1953)
Civil servant and photographer
- view photographs taken by Hopkinson
- view the Hopkinson Collection (BM)
- read a list of Hopkinson's day to day activities in Gyantse & Chumbi Valley & related photographs
1920 Joins Indian Civil Service
1926 Went to Sikkim as Assistant Political Officer
1927-8 Took up post as British Trade Agent, Gyantse
1938 Made CIE (Campanion, Order of the British Empire)
1944 Appointed Political officer and resident, Sikkim
1945-6 Travelled to Lhasa to discuss McMahon line
1948 Visits Shigatse with wife Eleanor
1948 Retires from service in India
Read more about Hopkinson
Rabden Lepcha
Photographer and assistant to Charles Bell
- view photographs taken by Rabden Lepcha (previously attributed to Bell)
19?? Born in Sikkim into a Lepcha family
19?? Became assistant to Charles Bell in Sikkim and continued to work for him for 18 years
1920 - 1921 Accompanied Bell to Lhasa and took many photographs
(Very little information is currently available about Rabden so we have yet to enter a biography for him.)
Evan Nepean (1909-2002)
Soldier and expert telegrapher
- view photographs taken by Nepean
- view the Nepean Collection (PRM)
- view Nepean's Album (PRM)
- view map of Nepean's travels
- read a list of Nepean's day to day activities in Lhasa & related photographs
1933 Joined the British Army Royal Corps of Signals
1933 -1938 Serving in North West Frontier Province of India 1936 Joined Gould Mission to Lhasa as telegrapher
Read more about Nepean
Hugh Richardson (1905-2000)
Civil servant, scholar and author on Tibetan history and culture
- view photographs taken by Richardson
- view the Richardson Collection (PRM)
- view Richardson's Album (BM)
- view map of Richardson's travels
- read a list of Richardson's day to day activities in Lhasa & related photographs
1930 Joined Indian Civil Service
1933 Travelled through Sikkim and into Tibet
1936 Appointed Trade Agent at Gyantse
1936 Joined the Gould Mission to Lhasa
1936 - 1940 British Representative in Lhasa
1947 - 1950 Indian Representative in Lhasa
1950 - Leaves Civil Service to concentrate on writing and lecturing about Tibet
Harry Staunton (1908-1945)
Military doctor and one of two Westerners to witness the installation of the 14th Dalai Lama
- view photographs taken by Staunton
- view the Staunton Collection (PRM)
- view Staunton's Album (PRM)
1934 Joined the Indian Medical Service posted to Bombay
1940 Accompanied Gould to Lhasa to attend the installation of the 14th Dalai Lama
1940 -1942 Civil Surgeon for Bhutan and Tibet
1945 Registrar of a hospital in Bombay
Read more about Staunton
Photographic Information
Read about photographic formats and camera types used by British photographers in Tibet.