Paper short abstract

William Lawes was the first photographer to live in the pre-colonial villages of Port Moresby, PNG. His images record the settlement, local awareness of its impact and daily life. I examine his still-lifes, to reflect upon the documentary and missionary themes that dominate his photographic work.

Paper long abstract

Rev. William Lawes of the London Missionary Society lived at Anapata from 1874. As the first photographer of the growing settlement based in so-called 'unknown New Guinea', his images were sought after by emerging anthropologists, collectors, potential colonisers and missionary societies. His photographs were largely sold through a Sydney-based studio and record the settlement, local awareness of its impact and daily life along the coastal villages. This paper addresses one group of his photographic work, the still-lifes that depict groups of objects arranged on cloth. Neither of great quality nor photographic style these images, I argue, are largely advertisements for goods that Lawes sought to sell to the growing anthropological and popular market in ethnographic arts.