These four photographs on both sides of an album leaf were once part of a larger album of both formal and informal photographs. On one side, two photographs show a group of women and children in an outdoor setting. The reverse contains two photographs of large family groups outdoors and on a verandah. The women in these photographs wear a variety of clothing styles, including Western-style dresses, sarong kebaya, baju panjang, and baju shanghai (also known as baju peki).Peranakans commissioned photographs to document their families and important life events such as births, marriages, and deaths. They also commissioned photographs to record their involvement in business enterprises, and in social causes such as schools, academic societies, religious groups, and in community and cultural associations.With improvements in camera technology, it became possible to take photographs without the assistance of a studio in the first decades of the 20th century. Increasingly, photographs were taken outdoors, or in domestic spaces, rather than in studios. However, amateur photography remained relatively expensive and was limited to the wealthier members of society who could afford to take photographs for pleasure and to document their daily lives.
