As Mountford was so often behind the camera, there are few examples like this showing him at work with the camera. Whilst on scientific expeditions to Central Australia in 1940 and 1942, Mountford filmed material which he edited into his first documentary film Brown Men and Red Sand (Walkabout). Later he published a book of the same title, which ran through many editions and was produced in several languages. It is possible that this photograph was taken by Lauri Sheard, the son of Mountford's friend Harold Sheard, who accompanied him on this trip, taking his own records and photographs.