Pasi
Photograph by Alfred C Haddon, 1898
From an album entitled 'Sunny Memories'
MAA
The 1898 Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Strait had a major impact on the professionalisation of anthropology at Cambridge and beyond. Led by A.C. Haddon, the Expedition was noted for its comprehensive research agenda and the integration of scholarly analysis with direct field research. The practice of long-term intensive fieldwork, developed as the key methodology of anthropology from the end of the nineteenth century, often resulted in close personal relationships between fieldworkers and their informants.
The extensive photographic collections from the Torres Strait reveal a marked shift from anthropometric photography to portraiture. Photographs also became part of a wider gift exchange and family portraits were made at Islanders’ request.
