The typed annotations on the rear of one panel of the panorama talk of its making: “He told me, that to take these matching photographs, he had to prepare (emulsion coating) his own 8 x 10 size glass plates in a covered earth hole and in it do the developing on the spot as well… They were given to me glued together but rolled up by Mr. Hilton around 1959/60. Taken around the turn of the Century 1899 or 1900”

After this note, the history of “Hong Kong Panorama by George Hilton” was unknown until it was discovered many years later. In 1996 the very badly damaged four-print panorama was found by a Vancouver-based camera collector who purchased it on behalf of its current owner in Hong Kong.

Sadly, the passage of over 100 years caused the four very delicate photographic prints to become badly damaged and beyond traditional display. Due to the processing chemicals used in the 1900s, each of the four photographs was taken on different photographic glass plates, giving each a unique colour tint. Tears in the separate prints, lost fragments and the fact that the four photos had all been taped roughly together did not help.

These factors made “The George Hilton Panorama of Hong Kong” impossible to frame and any type of restoration almost impossible in the mid-1990s. Facing this but not wanting to damage the panorama the owner elected to preserve the four fragile prints in dry conditions and wait.

The advent of advanced digital restoration techniques and software enabled the four panels to be scanned, then each was painstakingly restored pixel by pixel. The restoration, conducted over many months by a talented photographer and photographic printer, not only removed all imperfections but balanced all four photographs that make up the panorama in both colour and tone. After the balancing and restoration of each photograph was complete, they were digitally stitched together, creating a seamless panorama of Hong Kong.

Damaged and missing areas were rebuilt, though it was impossible to know the exact details required to rebuild some of the gaps. It’s a challenge for anyone to know what was there over 100 years ago and what was not and the aim was to create the ultimate turn-of-the-century Hong Kong Panorama that this now represents.