Sanford DUREYEA
 
active 1852-1863

Edward and Theodocia Hester and family c.1858
daguerreotype
18.0 (h) x 23.0 (w) cm
Private collection

The long exposures needed for daguerreotypes were a trial for adults and children alike but this rare whole plate size portrait, one of earliest known photographs from Western Australia, is very well executed. The quality suggests the maker was the American-born, Adelaide professional photographer Sanford Duryea, who made a short visit to Perth in 1858.