Here he journeyed around by boat, rail and road – ostensibly to find out more about the political stability of Cuba and the Caribbean for the US Government. Along the way he took photographs detailing the habits and lifestyles of the inhabitants of these islands – often making comparisons between them and native Africans.

The exhibition Unseen Island Life at the Royal Geographical Society shows a selection of these fascinating pictures, which were later published in a book titled the ‘The Negro in the New World’.

During his time spent in Africa, Johnston had taken elements of Darwinian theory to envisage a human hierarchy in which he believed that the “negro should be regarded as the sub-species of the perfect human type – Homo Sapiens.”

However, he also thought that the rapid rate of development in these islands and the islanders' capability of governing themselves made them a potential partner for Europeans.

Although Johnston’s views on race have long since been discredited, his book and the photographs it contains remain a historically important document that helps us understand the thinking of people during his era.

Grouped into themes the display covers such topics as resistance to slavery, farming, markets, religion and the environment. The pictures of life in the Caribbean are augmented by a recent oral history project, conducted by the Pepper Pot Centre — a social centre for African Caribbean elders in Ladbroke Grove — and Open Age.

The resulting text alongside the pictures, which includes Johnston’s original captions and a commentary on the pictures by colonial art history expert Dr Petrine Archers-Straw, make for an interesting read as well as making the pictures rather easier to relate to.

Simple but insightful observations abound; such as the fact that boys during that time often rode bicycles and girls rode side seats only with their boyfriends or how Caribbean elders remember how the homecoming of richer relatives as a time for celebration when children would run around and look for sweets in the relative’s pockets.

The photographs also show the structure of the Caribbean lifestyle. There are pictures of government buildings on the island, systematic farming, a head workman directing other workmen on the sugarcane fields and a farmer returning from the market on a mule laden with goods.

Interesting facts are also revealed about Voodoo culture and how the people disguised their traditional religious practices after the 'Christianization' of the island - for the fear of their beliefs being deemed satanic.

Some pictures depict the presence of Voodoo drums and certain Voodoo signs on places of worship. It rather seemed like the amalgamation of two religions - a cusp moment between them.

The exhibition coincides with the launch of the Society’s new Picture Library website. This resource means you can now view thousands of images from the RGS collections online - from classic images of exploration in Antarctica and on Everest to modern travel photography.