Lambert, Gustav Richard, Group of Chinese Priests

Lambert, Gustav Richard, albumen print, c.1875, signed in the print '66-chinese Priests & followers', showing a group of Chinese priests, followers and children, taped in modern card mount, 20cm x 13.5cm

Gustav Richard Lambert (1846–1907) was a German photographer who most famously contributed to the photography in Southeast Asia, but also worked in Dresden, Germany. In 1867, he established the G.R. Lambert & Co. photo studio in Singapore, which was to become one of the most significant photographic businesses in the area. Lambert was a very skilled landscape and portrait photographer, making thousands of images that showed the cultural and environmental diversity of Southeast Asia, Siam (Thailand) to Malaya, Borneo and China. Due to his talent as a photographer, he was later granted titles such as the King of Siam court photographer.

The studio of Lambert was well known for portraits and scenic views, and his work makes a major contribution to the visual record of colonial Southeast Asia. His photo studio was also very successful in the booming market for picture postcards, a popular medium of the time. Both portraits are from his career in Dresden, where he is listed as an official Court photographer of the Kingdom of Saxony after he returned to Europe.

His work is still highly respected from ethnographic and historical perspectives with many of his collections kept in museums around the world.