Through the Lens of John Thomson 186566. Legendary Scottish photographer and travel writer John Thomson 1837-1921 set off for the East in 1862 and over the next ten years undertook numerous journeys to variouscountries including Siam, Cambodia and China, becoming the first person to photograph Angkor Wat, Cambodia. The photographs from these journeys form one of the most extensive records of any region taken in the 19th century.