EU: Saigon, Cochin China, Vietnam. Photograph by John Thomson, 1866 (L0055789)

1866 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

A companion view from John Thomson's 1866 visit to Saigon, part of his wider photographic survey of Cochin China under French colonial administration. Thomson's Southeast Asian work, produced with the wet-plate process, is among the earliest sustained photographic documentation of the region.

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Ho Chi Minh City through time — all 118 photos taken here (1866–2025) →