A Black boy and other children in front of a tree in Greece

A black and white portrait photograph showing seated Black boy with a group of other children, with a tree in the background. There are three boys and two girls in total. All are outside, sat on or stood around stone structures, possibly graves or ruins. The stones are arranged in horizontal rows stretching away
from the camera. The Black boy is sat closest to the camera and just off centre of the image. He is sitting with his legs crossed and his hands tucked into his lap. He wears a loose-fitting light coloured shirt and dark trousers and is looking directly at the camera. The boy to the right of image is standing on
grass slightly away from the stones and is shielding his face from the sun as he looks at the camera. He wears a patterned long-sleeve shirt and dark trousers. To the left of the image, a girl is sitting with her legs either side of the second stone. Her face is turned towards the camera and she wears a light coloured bonnet with a dark ribbon and a dark
coloured dress. Another girl sits on the ground between the second and third stone and only her head and shoulders are visible. She is shielding her eyes from the sun while looking at the camera and appears to have some kind of sweet in her mouth. A fifth child is visible in silhouette to the left of her. Behind them, there is a tree with bare branches that occupied most of the upper part of the image. Behind it is a white boat without sails is moored on the bank of a body of water. In the background to the left of the image is a stone or brick building with a curved wall and to the right is a larger building with a pitched roof and a turret. Original caption (handwritten in ink beneath): ‘Darkness ‘Neath Paiv (?) Skies.’

The caption may be intended as an (offensive) reference to skin colour.

Object details

ID: ALB0327.10
Type: Photographic print
Display location: Not on display
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Parts: Sub-Lieutenant C V Connolly, RNVR. Career in the Aegean. (Photograph album)