"What makes Thomson significantly stand out from other photographers in the century is not that he made early trips to the Far East, but that he was able to photograph women and children in these relatively closed societies," said Betty Yao Yung-pei, a Hong Kong-born, London-based curator who organised the exhibition.

"In fact, most of the people he encountered had never seen a Westerner or a camera before."

The show at the Maritime Museum features 81 images taken by Thomson between 1868 and 1872, including 22 of Hong Kong.

The Edinburgh-born photographer first ventured out to the Far East in 1862.

In the four years he called Hong Kong home, Thomson snapped a variety of images including people, landscapes, architecture, domestic and street scenes.

Each offers a glimpse of how people lived under the rule of their colonial or Qing masters.

He trained his lens on subjects as varied and humble as beggars and mandarins, remote monasteries and imperial palaces, rural villages and magnificent landscapes.

"He had to transport his bulky wooden camera, many large fragile glass plates and potentially explosive chemicals, largely because of the limitations of photography," Yao said.

Back in Britain, Thomson took up an active role informing the public about China through illustrated lectures and publications.

In 1920, he wrote to Henry Wellcome - pharmacist, philanthropist and collector - offering to sell his glass negatives. All the images on show come from the Wellcome Library's collection in London.

It was through the collection that Yao, programme director of the non-profit cultural organisation Asia House in London, got to know Thomson's photographs in 2006.

She has since displayed his China work in Beijing.

"Through the Lens of John Thomson: Hong Kong and Coastal China" runs at the Maritime Museum until February 16. Tickets cost HK$30 per adult and are half-price for seniors, children under 18 and the disabled.