Lawson Insley was a daguerreotyptist who operated in Australia and New Zealand during the 19th century.[1] He worked in portraiture and captured the earliest known portrait of Māori subjects.[2] [3]
Insley arrived in Sydney in 1850. He set up a daguerreotype studio on George Street in September that year. Throughout the 1850s, Insley travelled between Australia and New Zealand, setting up studios and offering his services in portraiture.[4]
His most significant portrait was that of Caroline and Sarah Barrett, the daughters of trader Dicky Barrett and his wife Wakaiwa Rawinia. It was taken in New Plymouth in 1853.