Francis Herbert Dufty (1846-1910) . Important Photography . Fiji Islands .. Pacific

Francis Herbert Dufty, a 25-year-old Englishman, arrives in Levuka. town located on the east coast of Ovalau Island. in the Fiji Islands. By early 1871 he was running a successful traveling photographic business. on 24 May 1871 he set up a new studio next to the offices of the Fiji Times. his brother Alfred William Buchanan joined him. the Dufty studio prospered and the premises expanded. they take many studio portraits and landscape photographs.. their photographic process uses wet collodion technology which is difficult to move.. the Dufty images are therefore of great value. they constitute a fascinating document of a time when probably the most spectacular changes in the history of Fiji were taking place ..

dimensions of the photograph at sight approx. 28/20 cm
framed and glazed (hence certain reflections). .