Biographical/Historical Note

The photographs in this collection were taken in Southeast Asia by various photographers, known and unknown, between 1870 and 1910. Four of the photographs are attributed to or blindstamped by Woodbury & Page. The young Englishmen Walter B. (Bentley) Woodbury (1834-1885) and James Page (1835-1865) met while seeking their fortunes in the Australian gold rush of the 1850s. In 1857, they traveled to Java and opened the Woodbury & Page portrait studio in Weltevreden, Batavia (now Jakarta). Although Page returned to England in 1860, and Woodbury returned in 1864, the firm Woodbury & Page existed in Java until 1901, run first by Woodbury's younger brothers (Henry James and Albert), and later by Adolf Groth. Woodbury's career in photography continued after his return to England. He is best known for inventing the Woodburytype process (photo-relief printing). Three photographs are attributed to Kassian Cephas (1845-1912), the first native Javanese professional photographer. He had a studio in Yogyakarta and was appointed painter and photographer to the court in 1871. He was a member of the Royal Institute for Linguistics and Anthropology (Leiden) and the Archaeological Union of Yogyakarta, which commissioned his photographic campaigns at Prambanam and Borobudur.