本論文以視覺人類學的照片引談法以及歴史人類學的相片研究理論，分 析醫療宣教者蘭大弼醫師{1914〜2009、所蒐藏之家族相簿。將傳教士的照 片蒐藏視為一宗歴史檔案，分析其社會傳記的特性，以及其置身於更大社會 檔案脈絡中所具有的意義，企圓提供臺灣的醫療傳道史另一種研究材料選 擇。配合宣教史檔案中的其他相片、相本以及圓像材料，分析照片內容所蘊 涵的內外部敘事以及其社會文化脈絡，企圓以社會傳記的方式呈現醫療傳道 在傳統帝國殖民史之外面貌。
首先，本文簡介了歴史學及人類學界藉由照片研究物質文化的成果，並 申論晚近視覺人類學者發展出相片「社會傳記」分析的特色及優點，接著分 析蘭大弼醫師四代、跨兩世紀的家族相片收藏。藉由傳統視覺詮釋、照片引 談法所得致的口述歴史內容、社會文化脈絡的梳理，以及照片做為一種技術 史以與實踐的分析，本文認為分析對象體現了其身置年代裏包含大英帝國、 曰本殖民以及地方文化，至少三種元素的競爭或揉合。傳教士的認同也在其 中呈現了界域性，歴經一連串的轉變以及本土化。這種混雜的特性足以挑戰 當前殖民醫學書寫所呈現的二元對立基調。
此外，藉由分析發生於一九二八年「切膚之愛」的故事，作者分析傳道 醫療典範如何藉由各種形式的視覺技術和特性建構而成，以及此典範的塑造 在多層次殖民脈絡與醫療市場中的歴史含義。文末則著重於此批照片的社會 傳記與歴史檔案意義，除了運用現有的視覺人類學理論之外，考察了蘭氏家 族四代的職業傳承，論證此分析對象再現了傳教士做為一個特別的知識社 群，他們嗜好的攝影、蒐藏及交換所再現的日常生活實作、儀式與社交網 絡。此外，本文也討論了此新興研究觸及的倫理與文物歸返等問題。

This research showcases the ‘social biography’ and significance of missionary photographs and the archives in which these images were deposited. I explore the internal and external narratives of the photograph-as-artifact, which was generated within the practice of missionary medicine from the end of the nineteenth century to the early period after the Second World War. In particular I examine the photo collection of Dr. David Landsborough IV (1914-2009, also known as 蘭大弼），with reference to other visual records produced by medical missionaries and other historical accounts. Drawing upon theories of historical anthropology and engaging the collector by the method of photo elicitation, I show how photographs present researchers with a new window on missionary medicine, one alternative to those of imperial or colonial history.
Landsborough’s collection reveals the mixed and hybrid material culture of British and Japanese colonialisms and the local folk of Taiwan. It also shows the transformation and localization of missionaries’ identities over time. By showcasing the story “A Skin-Graft with Love,” this paper analyses the process by which a paradigm of missionary medicine was illustrated and projected through photography and other graphic forms.
It also attests to the necessity of such projection in the contested medical marketplace of multiple colonial cultures. In addition, by tracing the career history of the Landsboroughs from natural historians to medical missionaries, this paper suggests that photography can be seen not only as a method of documentation, but also as a way to represent cultural and ritual life in the social networking of certain intellectual communities. Lastly, this paper discusses the problems researchers might encounter, including ethical and cultural repatriation issues, when using photographs as resources for historical enquiry.