In addition to Ernest Wilson’s magnificent photographs of Korea, a selection of which may be seen in the Visitor Center, the Arnold Arboretum Archives holds collections of images by our other collectors who visited the peninsula. We present a select group here.
Frank Nicholas Meyer explored northern Korea in the summer of 1906. He had his trusty snapshot camera with him and captured images of the people, places, and plants he saw along his way. Because he was using a handheld camera, rather than a complicated apparatus such as Wilson’s Sanderson camera, his photographs, though sometimes grainy and a bit unfocused, are filled with life and spontaneity. He collected economic plants for the USDA and was careful to note the plant names and the many uses local people had for them.
