Photography Sri Lanka (3 results)

A silvertone photograph showing a large boat being built by hand by a group of men in dhotis, turbans and bare feet. Loose wood in foreground, elementary boat yard in background. On verso is written, "Tamil Boat Building". Tamils are an ethnic group from Sri Lanka. Image is 5 3/4 x 4", b&w, very good condition.

Condition: Good + overall. Large albumen photograph depicting a Cingalese (Ceylon) family consisting of a grandfather, father and young daughter, all dressed in their finest. The young father holds a cloth parasol. The young daughter, about 6 or 7 years old, already is wearing fine gold ornaments including necklaces, nose ring and earrings. "Colombo Apothecaries Company was established by J. Smith Finlay and W.M. Smith in Colombo, Ceylon in 1883. From a small mercantile establishment the Company grew rapidly into a large general store selling most commodities. The name Colombo Apothecaries Company was established in 1892 and by this time already had a photographic department. As an expansion of this department the company acquired the negatives of Charles Scowen Company and moved their studio to Kandy where the climate was considered better for photographic work than Colombo. After the acquisition of the Scowen portfolio, the Colombo Apothecaries Company produced a fine catalogue and started selling their photographs worldwide". (Our thanks to Palinda de Silva for the above information.) This is just such an intimate portrait, with the grandfather, at the right, slightly blurred as if he moved during a long exposure. A good bright image, some light creasing and a little chipped at edges, otherwise good + condition. Large photo, 8 1/4 x 10 1/2".

Hardcover. Condition: Very good overall. An interesting photograph album of about 92 photographs compiled by an unknown British businessman who visits Hong Kong, Colombo & wider Ceylon. He visits Hong Kong as a bachelor and here there are several amusing snapshots of men in kimonos, some parading with parasols. Arriving in Ceylon, the businessman seems to have been involved with either rubber or coconut plantations. He appears to marry in Ceylon. There are also 13 vernacular shots of Colombo buildings and people, including a lovely Sri Lankan woman and a Chinese street seller. There is a charming image of a young coolie asleep on the bottom rung of his rickshaw and two images of elephants carrying tea chests and their handlers scooped up in their trunk. A group of 4 photos show a large white ship from various angles, includes one of the captain looking at native boats alongside by Karl Lewis, possibly related to the Great White Fleet. Then a group of personal family portraits and one the Forth Bridge in Scotland. Tucked onto the last page of the album are two images of near-naked "ama" divers in Japan. The two images, by the collected photographer Karl Lewis, are silver tone photos of Japanese women "ama" divers. These are Japanese female free-divers who make a living from the ocean collecting seaweed, shellfish, sea urchins, pearls, and abalone to sell at the market. Wearing nothing but a loincloth, these fearless women free-dive up to 40 feet into the cold water. (reference available on request). Lewis was an interesting photographer of the last century. Born in Kentucky in 1865, he started as a dock worker and eventually took to the sea, living all over the world. He settled in Yokohama in 1901, had a common law wife and ran small photographic printing business, issuing brochures, postcards and covers that were sometimes hand colored. In 1905, his catalog advertised, "take any photograph, sketch or draw, produce 100 elegantly colored postcards for $1.75, including shipping." Over the years, he found sailors and the American Navy a popular subject, possibly because of sales. His postcards & photographs have become very collectible). See great white fleet website. Photograph sizes vary 3 ¾ x 4 ¾"; c x 2 ¾"; 6 x 4 ¼";3 ¼ x 4 ¼"; 4 x 5 ¾"; 6 3/8 x 4 ¾". Most images are vernacular, some have numbers/letters in the image, but no identified photographer (other than the Lewis images mentioned above.) Thick oblong photograph album, 11 ¾ x 9 ½ x 2 ½". Green two-tone cloth covers with thick album board varying between brown, gray and dark green backing the photographs. Boards a bit speckled, corners rubbed and a bit marked but firmly bound. An interesting vernacular album of Sri Lanka and the course of this man's life.