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William Joseph Winkler, Oriental Alley, 1920
Chinatown was commonly portrayed by artists and writers of tourist literature as a site located outside 19th century American modernity. Winkler’s etching depicts the alley of Chinatown as crowded, unsanitary, and filled with dark passageways teeming with filth where all sorts of vice were hidden from view. Rumors of underground Chinatown discussed the mysterious labyrinth of opium dens and gambling halls which intrigued many tourists. The Chinese population was juxtaposed in opposition to the dominant white middle class. Chinatown and its people were barbaric and filthy in comparison to the clean, virtuous, and civilized white American.
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Sam C. Patridge, Sleeping-Off Opium, 1889
Intrusions by tourists and photographers into personal abodes of the Chinese were not uncommon during this time. Opium dens were simultaneously repelling and attractive to white middle class sensibilities.
In fact, opium dens were sensationalized in tourist literature as one of the most significant events of experience in Chinatown. This specific photograph was packaged into a small booklet along with similar photographs, and was sold as a souvenir to white tourists.
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Henry R. Knapp, Old Blind Chinese Woman, 1889
Like Patridge, Knapp was a photographer who photographed images of Chinese people within the private spaces of their abodes. Police tour guides became popular in Chinatown as well, and were known for kicking open doors of Chinese residents’ homes and barging into these spaces to let tourists view the living quarters of the Oriental “others.” Photographers like Knapp took advantage of such intrusive activities by taking photos of the Chinese in their private environments. This photo was part of a series of similar images by Knapp, and was sold as a souvenir to tourists.
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Arthur Burnside Dodge, Taken by Surprise, n.d.
There was a mixed response by the Chinese population from white tourists. Dodge depicts this group of Chinese residents not only surprised to see these young white men in Chinatown, but also with expressions that communicate contempt and mild hostility. On the other hand, some Chinese chose to accommodate the tourists by placing themselves on display for profit. Some smoked opium while others displayed their filthy living quarters as spectacles for white audiences.
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Isaiah West Taber, Chinese Opium Den, 1886
Opium dens were both alluring and repulsive to the white tourists. These places tempted the gazer to engage in this forbidden leisure activity. However, opium dens also reflected negatively upon the Chinese smoker as a person lacking a sense of self-control over his mind and body, which is clearly the central message of Taber’s photograph. The tourists’ interest in experiencing opium for themselves worked to foster a commonality between the white tourists and Chinese through a shared use of the drug. |
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Henry Nappenbach, Chinese New Year Celebration, 1904
Many artists were curious in discovering the essential differences of people from the Orient. For Nappenbach, costume and architecture serve to define the Chinese as different from the larger culture of the West. This painting satisfies the viewer’s desire to encounter exotic architecture and way of dress within the context of a foreign celebration. This painting is voyeuristic in its perspective since it allows the viewer to glimpse into the happenings of the celebration while maintaining a safe distance from the action.
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Theodore Wores, Chinese Restaurant, 1884
Wores’ painting is framed by the exotic decor of the restaurant’s interior–an element that attracted white tourists to dine at a Chinese restaurant. Many tourist accounts emphasize the strangeness of the Chinese cuisine, which was used to reinforce the otherness of the Chinese population. Such tourists enjoyed not only cautiously consuming exotic Chinese foods, but also dined at restaurants like these to simply watch Chinese people eat. This painting’s removed, voyeuristic perspective fulfills the white viewer’s desire to simply watch the interaction between these Chinese men around the table.
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George Keller, The Coming Man, 1881 (left), James Phelan re-election campaign poster, 1920 (right)
This political cartoon references the Chinese immigrants’ monopoly on the labor market in California. Since many of them were willing to work for lower wages, they increased the competition of labor which eventually culminated in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This federal policy hoped to deny the Chinese laborers from dominating the market, and was propagated by James Phelan’s campaign to “keep California white.” The Chinese were seen not only as social others through their physical appearance and stereotypical way of dress depicted in the cartoon, but were also perceived as a threat in competition with the white laborers.
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Arnold Genthe, Carrying New Year's Presents, 1896
The motivation behind Genthe’s photographs was to capture an exotic flavor of Chinatown as a place. Genthe was a German immigrant photographer, and most well-known for his images of the Chinese in San Francisco. This photograph seeks to document and describe the exotic clothing of this woman and her child dressed up for Chinese New Year’s festivities. Genthe’s photos commonly portray passive women, children, and the elderly wearing traditional dress. His images reinforce the racist notion that the Chinese have not yet modernized, are unable to culturally assimilate to the larger California society.
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