Hedda Hammer (Morrison) arrived in Peking in 1933 and immediately became part of the 'family' of photographers and travellers who were drawn there to picture China for western audiences. From 1933-38 she managed Hartung's, a German owned commercial photographic studio with a well-established clientele of diplomats and resident foreigners. After her contract expired, Morrison continued to work as a freelance photographer selling prints to wealthy overseas visitors as souvenirs.