Donald Mennie
Encyclopedia
Donald Mennie was a Scottish businessman and amateur photographer
who worked in early twentieth century China
. Mennie was born in Scotland in 1875 or 76 being aged 15 when listed as a chemist’s apprentice in the Scottish census of April 1891 for a residence in Main street, Golspie, Sutherlandshire with 2 younger brothers by name of James and Adam and apparently an elder brother Archbald Argo as head of household. His brother appears to also a chemist. Little is known of Mennie's early years or how he came to China, but having arrived there by 1899 he first worked as an assistant in the firm of Mactavish & Lehman & Co. in Peking (now Beijing
) and then joined A.S. Watson & Co. in Shanghai
, eventually becoming the firm's managing director.
In 1921 Mennie made a trip to England listing his contact as his subordinate the Director at Watson & Co Mr Chisolm, this suggesting he was unmarried. By 1934 Watson & Co was listed as 'Wholesale & Retail Chemists, Druggists, & wine, spirit, & cigar merchants; Dealer in all kinds of photographic chemicals & apparatus'. From 1920 until his death in 1941, Mennie was a very powerful entrepreneur in coastal China. Donald Mennie died in Shanghai in January 1944 aged 69/70. Lungwha camp historian Greg Leck reported that Mennie's name appears on a list of British internees in Shanghai, with a Lunghwa Camp number and "Lunghwa" next to his name.
Mennie’s first known work as a photographer were the illustrations in duotone to Elizabeth Cooper’s 'My Lady of the Chinese Courtyard', a story of women's lives in China published in New York in 1914 which went into a number of reprints. He evidently began extensive travels in these years and went on to publish his own photobooks beginning in 1920 with a soft cover and relatively modest album of 30 vandyke photogravures China by Land & Water published by A.S Watson and Co.
As a photographer, Mennie probably used the wet plate
process, already a largely obsolete method in his time, and for his published prints, he mainly employed photogravure
, a process emphasising the image softness and subtle tonal variation that suited his interest in pictorialism
. Some of his published images were hand-coloured. His subjects evoked a romantic vision of "antique China", featuring dusty caravans, misty rural valleys, old palaces, and the Great Wall of China
. Between 1914 and 1927 he published several books of his images, including The Pageant of Peking (1920), providing views of Beijing and its environs, printed folio size and bound in blue silk, Glimpses of China (1920 ?), China, North and South (1922), The Grandeur of the Gorges (1926), depicting scenes along the angtze River] for which ]Mennie was proposed as a member of the Royal Geographic Society, and Pictures of Peking (after 1900).
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
who worked in early twentieth century China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. Mennie was born in Scotland in 1875 or 76 being aged 15 when listed as a chemist’s apprentice in the Scottish census of April 1891 for a residence in Main street, Golspie, Sutherlandshire with 2 younger brothers by name of James and Adam and apparently an elder brother Archbald Argo as head of household. His brother appears to also a chemist. Little is known of Mennie's early years or how he came to China, but having arrived there by 1899 he first worked as an assistant in the firm of Mactavish & Lehman & Co. in Peking (now Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
) and then joined A.S. Watson & Co. in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, eventually becoming the firm's managing director.
In 1921 Mennie made a trip to England listing his contact as his subordinate the Director at Watson & Co Mr Chisolm, this suggesting he was unmarried. By 1934 Watson & Co was listed as 'Wholesale & Retail Chemists, Druggists, & wine, spirit, & cigar merchants; Dealer in all kinds of photographic chemicals & apparatus'. From 1920 until his death in 1941, Mennie was a very powerful entrepreneur in coastal China. Donald Mennie died in Shanghai in January 1944 aged 69/70. Lungwha camp historian Greg Leck reported that Mennie's name appears on a list of British internees in Shanghai, with a Lunghwa Camp number and "Lunghwa" next to his name.
Mennie’s first known work as a photographer were the illustrations in duotone to Elizabeth Cooper’s 'My Lady of the Chinese Courtyard', a story of women's lives in China published in New York in 1914 which went into a number of reprints. He evidently began extensive travels in these years and went on to publish his own photobooks beginning in 1920 with a soft cover and relatively modest album of 30 vandyke photogravures China by Land & Water published by A.S Watson and Co.
As a photographer, Mennie probably used the wet plate
Collodion process
The collodion process is an early photographic process. It was introduced in the 1850s and by the end of that decade it had almost entirely replaced the first practical photographic process, the daguerreotype. During the 1880s the collodion process, in turn, was largely replaced by gelatin dry...
process, already a largely obsolete method in his time, and for his published prints, he mainly employed photogravure
Photogravure
Photogravure is an intaglio printmaking or photo-mechanical process whereby a copper plate is coated with a light-sensitive gelatin tissue which had been exposed to a film positive, and then etched, resulting in a high quality intaglio print that can reproduce the detail and continuous tones of a...
, a process emphasising the image softness and subtle tonal variation that suited his interest in pictorialism
Pictorialism
Pictorialism is the name given to a photographic movement in vogue from around 1885 following the widespread introduction of the dry-plate process. It reached its height in the early years of the 20th century, and declined rapidly after 1914 after the widespread emergence of Modernism...
. Some of his published images were hand-coloured. His subjects evoked a romantic vision of "antique China", featuring dusty caravans, misty rural valleys, old palaces, and the Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
. Between 1914 and 1927 he published several books of his images, including The Pageant of Peking (1920), providing views of Beijing and its environs, printed folio size and bound in blue silk, Glimpses of China (1920 ?), China, North and South (1922), The Grandeur of the Gorges (1926), depicting scenes along the angtze River] for which ]Mennie was proposed as a member of the Royal Geographic Society, and Pictures of Peking (after 1900).