方苏雅个人肖像
   名称: Francois Posing with Local Officials /方苏雅与地方官员合影 
类别：Albumen Print/蛋清照片
日期: 1890
尺寸: 18x22cm


Auguste François (1857-1953), known in China by his Chinese name Fang Suya, was a French diplomat and pioneering photographer. Born in August 1857 in a prosperous wool merchant family in Lorraine, France, he became an orphan at fifteen. After a brief military career and a failed political involvement, he turned to the study of law. In 1895, François was appointed French consul in Longzhou (present-day Guangxi), where his Chinese friend Su Yuanchun gave him the name Fang Suya.

方苏雅（Auguste François，1857-1953），是法国外交官及开创性摄影师，在中国被称为方苏雅。1857年8月，他出生于法国洛林地区一个富裕的呢绒商人家庭，十五岁成为孤儿。经历短暂的军旅生涯及政治尝试失败后，他转而学习法律。1895年，方苏雅被任命为法国驻龙州（今广西）领事，其中国朋友苏元春为他取名“方苏雅”。

In October 1899, at the age of 42, he embarked on an ambitious photographic expedition to Yunnan’s provincial capital (Kunming), carrying seven cameras and numerous glass dry plates, a technology introduced only in 1885. Over nearly five years, he meticulously documented the region’s landscapes, towns, villages, streets, temples, and people—from governors and magistrates to merchants, beggars, and prisoners. His work captured not only the visual richness of the region but also froze a detailed record of society that would become invaluable a century later as one of the earliest and most comprehensive photographic archives of a Chinese province. François left China in 1904.

Artistically, François’s photographs combine documentary precision with aesthetic sensibility, demonstrating sophisticated composition, lighting, and perspective. His lens also captured the construction of the Yunnan–Vietnam Railway and produced one of the earliest motion picture records of late Qing China, preserving over an hour of moving images. Today, his photographic and cinematic works are preserved in major institutions, including the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Musée d’Orsay, and select collections in Asia, where they are celebrated for their historical significance, anthropological insight, and enduring artistic value.

方苏雅（Auguste François，1857-1953），是法国外交官及开创性摄影师，在中国被称为方苏雅。1857年8月，他出生于法国洛林地区一个富裕的呢绒商人家庭，十五岁成为孤儿。经历短暂的军旅生涯及政治尝试失败后，他转而学习法律。1895年，方苏雅被任命为法国驻龙州（今广西）领事，其中国朋友苏元春为他取名“方苏雅”。

1899年10月，42岁的方苏雅携七台相机和大量玻璃干片（1885年才问世）踏上前往云南府城（今昆明）的摄影考察之旅。历时近五年，他系统拍摄了云南的山川湖泊、城镇乡村、街道建筑、寺庙道观及各类人物——从总督巡抚到商贩、乞丐、犯人。他不仅捕捉了丰富的视觉景观，更将社会生活细致凝固于影像之中，为百年后提供了最早、最完整的云南社会影像资料。1904年，他离开中国。

在艺术成就方面，方苏雅的摄影兼具纪实精确与美学感受，其作品在构图、光影和视角处理上极具技巧。他还拍摄了滇越铁路建设全程，并制作了长达一小时的影像，成为晚清中国最早、最完整的纪实影像记录。如今，方苏雅的照片与影像被法国国家图书馆、奥赛博物馆及亚洲部分收藏机构珍藏，其作品不仅具有重要历史与人类学价值，也体现出卓越的艺术成就。>>返回>>