Joseph F. Rock | China, Vintage Photographs from the National Geographic Image Collection

16 June - 21 July 2012
Joseph F. Rock 1884-1962 Joseph Rock at home, photographic plates drying above his bed, Nguluko, China, circa 1928 Press caption, with annotations and stamps, in ink, au mount verso Printed circa 1928 Gelatin silver print mounted to 6 3/4 x 9 inch (17.15 x 22.86 cm) period board 5 1/2 x 7 3/4 in 13.97 x 19.69 cm
Joseph F. Rock

1884-1962

Joseph Rock at home, photographic plates drying above his bed, Nguluko, China, circa 1928
Press caption, with annotations and stamps, in ink, au mount verso
Printed circa 1928
Gelatin silver print mounted to 6 3/4 x 9 inch (17.15 x 22.86 cm) period board
5 1/2 x 7 3/4 in
13.97 x 19.69 cm

Exhibition: June 16 – July 21, 2012

Reception: Thursday, June 21, 5-8pm

 

This is the gallery’s second exhibition featuring the National Geographic Image Collection. Our previous exhibition included photographs from around the world made by a variety of photographers, whereas this exhibition concentrates on a single maker, Dr. Joseph F. Rock (1884 – 1962).

 

There were few more colourful expeditions than those undertaken by Rock in the 1920s to the far hinterlands of China. The eccentric Viennese-born botanist spent 27 years in the remote Tibetan borderlands collecting exotic plants and communing with spiritual lamas while dodging warlords and bandits. Through his photographs, Rock documented the hidden world of the Naxi and other peoples of this region.

 

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