The French amateur photographer Paul Champion (1838-1884) was originally trained as a chemical engineer, and had been asked by the Société Impériale d’Acclimatation to explore China to prospect for flora and fauna exchange and trade industries. This gave him the opportunity to pass through Japan and China in 1865-1866 and to bring back numerous stereoviews and wet collodion plates. His stereographs of China captured views of Wuhan and Beijing and the surrounding vicinity. The images above are part of the Musée d’Orsay collection.
