John Thomson is one of the giants of early photography. Born in Edinburgh in 1837, Thomson took up photography as a profession in his early 20's. For one year from 1862, he travelled and explored the Far East recording with his camera, scenes of life now long vanished. The series of photographs resulted in Thomson being regarded as one of the first of the great "photo-journalists".

Yet Thomson's photographs are equally valued for their intrinsic qualities - the beauty of their imagery, their vivid sense of immediacy and interesting composition.

Thomson arrived in Singapore in 1862 on board the P & O steamer "Emeu" and set up his "Photographic Room" at 3 Beach Road, where the Palm Court wing now stands.

He left in 1865 and travelled further East to China and returned to England in 1872 where 14 years later, he was appointed photography instructor to the Royal Geographic Society. For his technical and artistic skill, and his enormous contribution to early photography, Raffles Hotel pays tribute to him in the John Thomson Suite.