Timber cutting scene, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, circa 1890.

Sepia-tone gelatin silver print photograph, 155 x 210 mm; verso with the wet stamp of ‘S. J. Dailey, Photographic Artist, 151 Franklin Street, Adelaide’, and a fully contemporary caption in pencil: ‘Timber cutting, Kangaroo Island, S. A.’; the print has a few short edge tears and some loss at the corners; nevertheless, it is an exceptionally sharp image with a wealth of detail, including of the timber cutters and their implements, larger equipment, a storage shed and bullock teams and drays – plus, of course, lots of scattered timber debris in the foreground.

An historically significant photograph documenting the timber cutting industry on Kangaroo Island in the 1890s. It was taken by professional photographer S. J. Dailey, first president of the South Australian Photographic Society.

Trove locates no other examples of this image in Australian public collections.