Lakatoi sailing canoes, Mailu, Papua New Guinea, ca. 1905

View of trading canoes with distinctive crab claw sails. One of 25 prints in a small album of "Snapshots".; Will Saville served the London Missionary Society in the Mailu district of Papua for thirty-five years following his appointment in 1900. In 1903 he married Frances Lawes, also the child of an LMS missionary, Rev Francis Edwin Lawes, and the niece of the pioneer missionary photographer, William George Lawes. Saville's knowledge of the Mailu area, its society and language was significant in increasing anthropological knowledge in this field. He published a grammar and dictionary, as well as translating the New Testament and producing a number of religious books in the Mailu language, as well as an anthropological study, "In Unknown New Guinea" in 1926. "In Unknown New Guinea" featured over sixty photographs and represent examples of Saville's photographs taken and presented as anthropological evidence. Missionaries regarded many of the customs they encountered as being totally incompatible with the pursuit of a Christian life. The study of these customs was therefore significant in the missionary's work, to understand and convert the indigenous populations amongst whom they lived. In addition to these studies of customs and traditions, Saville also took many photographs of children, including some more informal images included in this small album of "Snapshots".

带有标志性蟹爪帆的贸易独木舟景象。本图为小型"Snapshots"影集中25幅印刷品之一。威尔·萨维尔（Will Saville）于1900年受任后，在巴布亚马伊鲁地区服务于伦敦传道会（London Missionary Society）长达三十五年。1903年，他与弗朗西斯·劳斯（Frances Lawes）成婚；弗朗西斯·劳斯本人为伦敦传道会传教士弗朗西斯·埃德温·劳斯牧师（Rev Francis Edwin Lawes）之女，同时亦是先驱传教士摄影师威廉·乔治·劳斯（William George Lawes）的侄女。萨维尔对马伊鲁地区的社会与语言有着深入了解，这对推动该领域的人类学研究具有重要意义。他曾出版语法与词典著作，将《新约》译为马伊鲁语，并创作多部宗教读物，还于1926年推出人类学专著《未知的新几内亚（In Unknown New Guinea）》。《未知的新几内亚（In Unknown New Guinea）》收录六十余幅照片，均为萨维尔作为人类学证据拍摄并留存的摄影作品。传教士普遍认为，其所遭遇的诸多当地习俗与基督教信仰生活完全相悖，因此研究这些习俗是传教工作的重要一环，有助于他们理解并感化所驻留的原住民群体。除上述习俗与传统研究外，萨维尔还拍摄了大量儿童题材照片，本小型"Snapshots"影集中亦收录了若干更具纪实感的非正式影像。