Allan Hughan -photographer

Before I add any more photos, I will give a quick potted history, using mainly information taken from the two French publications, of Allan's photographic life in Noumea.
It appears that , with the exception of his own family, Allan Hughan photographed everything in New Caledonia from scenery, insect pests and plants to indigenous Kanacks, European settlers and Government officials. He was instrumental in chronicling the history of New Caledonia during a decade that was the most turbulent and unsettled of its settlement.
The 1870s saw much unrest and killing occur between the natives of the islands and the white men who were seen to be stealing their kin for labour on Noumea and as far afield as Queensland. While this certainly did occur, many innocent white settlers and even missionaries were murdered because of the actions of an unscrupulous few.
In 1872-73 the first of a consignment of French prisoners, known as 'Communards' were sent to Noumea as punishment for their involvement with a savage uprising in Paris in 1871. From 'Wikipedia':- "The Communards were members and supporters of the short-lived 1871 Paris Commune formed in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War and France's defeat.Following this, according to historian Benedict Anderson, thousands fled abroad, roughly 20,000 Communards were executed during the Semaine Sanglante ("Bloody Week") and 7,500 were jailed or deported."
Allan Hughan took many photographs of both the natives and the Garrisons concerned with guarding the French 'convicts'.He was equally at ease photographing in his studio with an assortment of props or out in the field.
In 1871 there was an invasion of the coconut locust that devastated crops around Noumea, and Allan took a series of wonderfully detailed photographs of the insect.
Rather than Allan having to pester the locals to pose for him in order to build himself a good collection of indigenous photos for business, it appears that most of his studio photography resulted from them coming to him. An analysis of hundreds of photos taken by Hughan of the native people, as carried out by Patrick O'Reilly for his book, claimed that only 6 to 7 % wanted to be photographed in European clothing. The majority preferred to be photographed in native attire, using Allan's many and varied accessories.
I must admit that a photo in my possession of three native women had always disturbed me..the looks on their faces displayed humiliation and a desire to be anywhere else but in Allan Hughan's studio. Perhaps I have totally misread the situation, and the women in question were merely showing awkwardness at being in an unfamiliar environment.