Far East, circa 1870
Photographer Unidentified

Taken in an unknown port located somewhere in the Far East, this photograph shows sailors of Her Majesty’s Royal Navy standing at attention – their intricately designed oars stretching towards the sky. Not only interesting from a purely visual perspective, this image, by an unknown photographer, provides a measured contrast between the rigidity of the sailors in the foreground, the boats of the local population milling about in the second plan and the large fleet of ships anchored against the horizon.