One tends to hear adjectives like “exotic” or “mysterious” from Westerners who describe the Far East. But 19th-century Scottish photojournalist John Thomson set out to photograph China from 1868 through 1872 with his mind and eyes open in pursuit of his goal: to capture the ordinary, regular and everyday lives of the Chinese, both rich and poor, young and old.

His beautiful and disarming images, on display through Sept. 11 at the East-West Center Art Gallery in “China Through the Lens of John Thomson,” show that he achieved that goal and more. This is a collection of exquisite landscape photographs and intimate portraits that capture not only China’s customs, occupations and street life, but the spirit and moods of the changing country itself.

The exhibition harks back to the foot-binding and face-painting days that we now only hear about. Images of women in traditional Chinese robes, gamblers playing in the street and Manchu soldiers sprawl across the gallery walls. Select photos are enlarged up to an impactful 48 by 53 inches: “A Cantonese Beauty,” a portrait of a pale-eyed young woman, graces an entire gallery wall.

“We thought it was extraordinary to (be able to) show people a glimpse into a world that’s past and gone,” said Michael Schuster, East-West Center curator. “I wanted people to connect to the historical world of China, the aesthetics of early photography and the significance of today’s Hawaii-Chinese community.”

Back then China was unfamiliar with both photography and foreigners, but it’s evident that Thomson’s skill with the camera and sensitivity with people drew them out. Hauntingly beautiful images like “A Cantonese Beauty” and “A Manchu Lady After Having Her Face Painted” show that Thomson was somehow able to have access to photographing women — almost unheard of for a foreigner, according to Schuster.

Thomson’s skills also transcended the limitations of his era’s cameras: Despite the lifelike spontaneity conveyed in many of the portraits, subjects needed to sit still for 30 to 60 seconds of exposure.

Elegiac landscape images such as “Ruins of Bronze Temple in the Garden of Clear Ripple” show Thomson’s dedication to his work, as he had to carry heavy pieces of equipment up to a high vantage spot to take the photos. During the early days of photography, negatives were made on glass plates coated with collodion before exposure. This meant that Thomson also had to tote cumbersome camera equipment, including his own darkroom. Slides had to be developed on the spot.

“You have this whole setup, and Thomson had amazing talent to physically work to photograph these people and landscapes. If you think about how much work he had to do for each photo, the detail is extraordinary,” Schuster said.

The exhibition was organized by Betty Yao, who first viewed Thomson’s original glass negatives at the Wellcome Library in London and was so impressed by them that she set up an exhibition to tour cities around the world, including Beijing and Hangzhou in China, London, Stockholm, Dublin and more. Staff at the Wellcome Library helped digitize the images — the original glass negatives are still in their archives.

“Besides showing a glimpse of a bygone time, I hope, by presenting these prints in such large formats and in contemporary white frames, that this exhibition will also attract young people,” Yao said. “I hope each visitor will pick up some small bit of inspiration and relate to something from 150 years ago.”

Thomson’s journeys across Asia showed China’s beautiful landscapes, many now vanished, and bustling daily street lives in the most natural way. His work helped bring together the two cultures of East and West, especially during an era where China was closed off to the rest of the world. What’s remarkable is that his photographs continue to bridge both culture and time even today, allowing us a momentary glimpse back into a world that we have long since passed by.