A portrait photograph of Captain Edward Augustus Inglefield, in a naval uniform jacket and wearing a naval cap-badge on what appears to be a smoking cap. The background has been masked with paper. This was Inglefield's second voyage in support of the search expedition under Captain Sir Edward Belcher. He had been in the arctic as captain of the Phoenix in 1853 in company with the storeships Breadlebane and Diligence.

'The Times' reported on 4 May 1854 that 'Captain Inglefield takes out with him on the present occasion a most complete series of the articles used by photographists for depicting nature as seen in the Polar regions'. This was the wet-plate process.