Studio portraits of Aboriginal father and son

PXE 1793

fonds

Probably 1890s

Graphic Materials, Photographs

9589122

2 photographic prints - albumen - 15.4 x 10.7cm or smaller

These formal portraits of an Aboriginal father and son, ca. 1890s, attired in European dress, were taken in a professional photographic studio. Such photographs were uncommon at the time, with Indigenous sitters more often dressed in ‘traditional’ costume in a tableau scene. The adult is dressed in riding attire similar to Aboriginal bush trackers or troopers of the period. The boy is dressed in a child’s sailor suit. The location is believed to be New South Wales, as indicated by an contemporaneous inscription on reverse of the photographs, and it is most likely a rural location, as the studio props are less stylised than city photographic studios of the time.
Reference: Library correspondence file

Two photographic portraits of an unnamed Aboriginal father and son, ca. 1890s, taken in a studio, probably in rural New South Wales.

Out of copyright:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Annotation in ink on reverse of smaller photograph reads: “Aboriginal NSW”.