Taken inside a studio, it is unknown if the two men really were washermen or simply pretending to be. Either way, it would not have mattered to either the photographer or the future customer, who were more interested in a representation of race and occupation, rather than in the men themselves.
Exhibition
Living Pictures: Photography in Southeast Asia, National Gallery Singapore, December 2 2022–August 20, 2023
Bibliography
Living Pictures. (2022). In National Gallery Singapore eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1353/book.110798