H W Skeen founded the company of Skeen & Co. in 1860 in the port city of Colombo in ceylon. His son, William Louis Henry Skeen, studied at the London School of Photography and joined the family business in around 1862. The firm's work concentrated on the commercial life of the island/ It also produced photographs, like this one, for naval, military or merchant travellers & the expatriate & breaucratic class.