Ceylon was home to many extraordinary 19th century photographers, from Fiebig to Scowen and Skeen. The site, which accompanies a book, has numerous extraordinary images of an island kingdom rich in landscapes, people and abstract botanics.

The institution of photography in Ceylon was first established in the mid 1840's and was practiced quite extensively towards the end of the 19th Century. During that period there were dozens of local and foreign artist who took up the challenge to record the daily events which took place in the beautiful and mysterious island of Ceylon in the form of a photographic image.

Starting with the first recorded photographer, S.J. Barrow, who experimented with this new invention in the mid 1840's, the title of novice and professional photographer in Ceylon was held by many distinguished individuals such as Frederick Fiebig (1840-1852), William Andre (1860-1870), Samuel Bourne & Shepherd (1863-1872), Julia Margaret Cameron (1875-1879), Henry William Cave (1880-1900), Adolphus Grigson (1870-1880), Joseph Lawton (1866-1872), AWA Plate (1892-1930), Charles T. Scowen (1873-1893) and William Louis Henry Skeen (1860-1903).