A black and white portrait photograph of a seated Sri Lankan man facing the camera. His head, arms and torso are within the frame but his hands and legs are not. He is bare-chested and wears a sarong of chequered material, secured around his waist by a belt with an s-hook clasp. He has a full beard and his hair is probably tied up. A u-shaped ornamental hair comb rests on the top of his head. The rest of a chair or chaise longue is visible behind his left arm. Original caption (handwritten vertically, to the left of the photograph): 'A Singalese [Sinhalese], or man of Ceylon'.

This photograph may have been taken in a commercial photography studio.