The photographs in this collection were taken between June and September 1927 during Williams' missionary expedition with Bill Wade westwards from Oodnadatta into the Central Australian Aboriginal Reserve. Several of the photographs have been reproduced in Williams' books Beneath whose hand and Song in the desert but there are other photographs in those books that are not included in AA 623.

Some of the photos in this collection are also in the Allan Brumby Collection (AA 42). Whether the photos were Williams' or Brumby's is uncertain.