This week we are highlighting a subset of images from the collection of Arthur Boswell, now owned by Bexley Heritage Trust. Arthur Boswell (1880-1966) was fascinated by photography and documented his family and the Bexleyheath area in Kent, where he lived his entire life. As well as photographing local scenes, he also collected dozens of sets of 19th century lantern slides covering a wide range of popular themes from travel to illustrated sayings or moral lessons.

A commercially-manufactured lantern slide is a positive transparent photograph on glass, made by sensitising a piece of glass with silver gelatin emulsion, and results in an image with remarkable detail. It's this detail and sense of immediacy that makes the images in this selection so engaging. Each one is a moment in time, appearing both spontaneous and strange. Two Australian hunters show off the geese they've shot that morning; Norwegian brides in traditional dress are photographed with their husbands; Chinese emigrants, the men with their hair in the traditional queue braid, board a steamer in Tongku; an extended Aboriginal family pose outside their dwelling near the Clarence River in New South Wales. There are also scenes closer to home: people in Victorian dress lounge on the beach, or enjoying a 'Tour of the Colonies' in central London.

These images repesent a fraction of the whole collection, all of which can be licenced by contacting us by email at pictures@maryevans.com or calling 020 8318 0034.