Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.
Korean and Japanese postcards of the past - Children
Korean children, circa 1900s.
By Robert Neff
Korean children at Topgol (Pagoda) Park, circa early 1900s.
In her article “Staging 'Koreana' for the Tourist Gaze: Imperials Nostalgia and the Circulation of Picture Postcards,” Hyung Il Pai wrote:
“It was common practice for travel photographers to post street children next to monuments. As native markers, sympathetic portraits of street children are current motifs of the 'conquered other' in views of the capital of Keijo [Seoul].
From the perspective of the commercial photographer, the children's innocent expressions and demeanor embellished the exotic and pristine quality of their travel experiences and affirmed their status as discoverers of unknown, distant lands and peoples.”
She further went on to add that George Rose ― a famous Australian photographer who visited Korea at the beginning of the 20th century ― “was one of numerous commercial photographers to capture disheveled street children amid historic ruins in order to enhance the 'nostalgic' appeal of the six-hundred-year-old capital for a world audience.
Portraits of Koreans as 'child-like and somewhat 'helpless' barbarians who needed to be saved by civilized nations mirrored contemporary missionaries' travel photographs and narratives.”
There is undoubtedly a good deal of truth in what she wrote but part of me (the romantic and innocent side) believes that a lot of photographs taken of children had no sinister political plot but were merely taken because kids are cute and great subjects.
Korean children babysitting their sibling, circa 1900s.
Children at Gwangwhamun, circa early 1900s.
Korean boys, circa 1900s.
Japanese children, circa 1900s.