This hand-coloured gelatin silver print shows a boy dressed in costume. This was probably taken in a photographic studio.European studios were already established across the Strait Settlements and the Dutch East Indies by the 1840s and became increasingly prevalent in the 1850s. This gave way to Chinese-owned studios, which dominated the market during the 1920s.Photography was a transformational technology when it was first invented around 1839 and was quickly embraced by the Peranakans as soon as it arrived in Southeast Asia around 1841. This group of photographs reveals the longstanding relationship between Peranakans and photography which continues till today.
