名称: Distant View of Leifeng Pagoda/远眺雷峰塔
类别: Collodion Printing/火棉胶照片
日期: 1890
尺寸: 20x26cm



名称: Distant View of Hangzhou/远眺杭州
类别: Gelatin Silver Print/银盐照片
日期: 1910s-1920s
尺寸: 15x76cm


Erwo Xuan was originally founded by Yu Yinchu outside Yongjin Gate in Hangzhou, established in the 1870s and operating until 1953. It was one of the earliest studios in Hangzhou to use electric lighting photography, producing lifelike portraits that became especially famous for wedding photography. The studio also photographed prominent contemporary figures, including Sun Yat-sen. Between 1910 and 1915, Erwo Xuan produced the “West Lake Scenery” photo album, which won gold medals at the Nanyang Industrial Fair and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in the United States. As early as 1894, Erwo Xuan won a gold medal at the national photography competition for over twenty West Lake landscape photographs, reportedly conferred by the emperor.

二我轩最初由余寅初创办，地点位于杭州涌金门外，创建于1870年代，至1953年结业。它是杭州最早使用“电光照”技术的照相馆，拍摄的人物肖像栩栩如生，因此在杭州城内以婚照闻名。二我轩还为孙中山等当代名人拍摄过肖像。1910—1915年期间，二我轩拍摄的《西湖风景》照相册在南洋劝业会及美国巴拿马世博会上荣获金奖。早在1894年，二我轩凭借20余幅西湖风光照片获得全国摄影大赛金奖，据说是皇帝钦定。

The name Erwo Xuan carries a dual meaning: “one self in reality, one self in the photograph,” and it also refers to a unique photographic technique in which a single negative was exposed twice, producing an image with two figures of the same person, called “Bu Qiu Ren”. According to the Hangzhou Gazette, the studio also produced a West Lake series of 48 photographs. In 1910, this series participated in the first Nanyang Industrial Exhibition organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, winning a gold medal and an honorary certificate. The album was popular both domestically and internationally, and copies are now held in institutions such as the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.

Erwo Xuan’s work demonstrates exceptional technical skill, aesthetic refinement, and innovation. Its portraits and landscapes not only document historical and cultural life in late Qing and early Republican Hangzhou but also reflect a high level of photographic artistry. Surviving negatives, prints, and albums are highly valued by museums and private collectors for their artistic merit and historical significance, representing a key chapter in the history of Chinese photography.

“二我轩”名字寓意“双我”：现实中有一个我，照片中也有一个我；同时也指通过一张底片两次曝光拍摄的照片，使同一张照片上呈现两个人影，即“不求人”。据《杭州志》记载，二我轩曾制作《西湖各景》照相册，共48幅照片，宣统二年（1910年）参展南洋第一次劝业会，获金牌及荣誉证书。该相册畅销国内外，现法国巴黎国立图书馆亦有收藏。

二我轩的作品体现了卓越的摄影技艺与审美追求，其肖像与风景作品不仅记录了晚清及民国杭州的历史文化生活，也展现了摄影艺术的高度。现存的底片、照片及相册被博物馆和私人收藏高度重视，因其艺术价值与历史意义而成为中国摄影史的重要组成部部分。 >>返回>>