Having established his reputation as a professional photographer documenting military conflicts in the Crimea and India during the 1850s, Italian-born Felice Beato arrived in China in March 1860 during the final months of the Second Opium War. Accompanying the Anglo-French expeditionary force, which went on to seize Beijing and force the Chinese Empire to accede to sweeping political and economic demands, Beato’s views, combining topographical and military information, provided a visual record of the Imperial campaign. They were often included in ‘progress’ reports sent from Hong Kong to the commanding officer of the British army.

Beato also sold his images of China to British officers as unmounted prints with his stock number, title, and date written in pencil on the verso of each print. By assembling a selection of images, the purchaser could construct a personal visual record. Surviving albums such as this one have differing numbers of prints, and are a reflection of the owner's personal military career. But even before the ‘narrative’ was constructed by the purchaser, Beato himself controlled the story, determining what was considered worthy of recording and eliminating any conflicting viewpoints. These views were absorbed by the public as part of a larger visual memory documenting England’s rise as an Imperial power.