Scott Merrillees traces Bali photography in 447 images

Denpasar — Scott Merrillees’ BALI: Photography 1865–1939 was published in 2025 and traces the island’s photographic history through 447 images, according to NOW! Bali and a separate author listing for Merrillees’ Indonesia-focused photography work.

The book is a 350-page study edited by Diana Darling and published by Afterhours Books. NOW! Bali said it follows Bali’s photographic record from 1865 to 1939 and is being sold through major bookstores in Jakarta and Bali.

Rather than treating the pictures as a simple visual archive, the book organises the story around the photographers, studios and technologies that shaped how Bali was recorded. That approach places the making of images, not just the images themselves, at the centre of the narrative.

A chronology built around photographers

NOW! Bali said the book begins with Isidore van Kinsbergen, who travelled to Bali in 1865 on a Dutch government mission. The chronology then moves through later figures including Rose Covarrubias and Colin McPhee, and extends into the 1930s, when Japanese photo studios and colourists in Yokohama were active in producing Bali images.

The publication also tracks changes in photographic technique over time, from early sepia-era processes to autochromes, linking the look of the pictures to the technologies used to create them. That framework makes the book both an art object and a historical study.

Merrillees has long focused on the visual history of Indonesia. An author profile on an Indonesia photography site lists Bali: Photography 1865-1939 among his books and describes him as an independent photo historian working on the country’s photographic past.

Why the book matters

A photographer-centred history changes how colonial-era images are read. It draws attention to who took the pictures, what equipment they used and the historical circumstances that brought them to Bali.

It also reminds readers that historical photographs are constructed records. They can preserve valuable evidence of people, places and practices, while still reflecting the choices and limits of the photographer or studio behind the lens.

For Bali, that matters because the island’s visual record was formed during the Dutch colonial period and the years leading up to Indonesian independence. By bringing together 447 photographs across that period, Merrillees’ book offers a structured view of how Bali was seen, sold and documented over nearly three-quarters of a century.

Key details:

• Title: BALI: Photography 1865–1939
• Author: Scott Merrillees
• Editor: Diana Darling
• Publisher: Afterhours Books
• Length: 350 pages
• Image count: 447 photographs and images
• Coverage: 1865–1939

In balancing images, photographers and technologies, the book presents Bali’s photographic past as both a visual archive and a history of how that archive was made.

Sources

• Asia-Pacific Photography
• NOW! Bali