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Charles Collins was a professional photographer active in Sydney and rural New South Wales. He had a studio in Maclean in 1882, and made cartes de visite of towns, people and properties in Bega, Bombala, and Grafton in New South Wales. Between 1881 and 1900 he established a studio in Sydney, where he advertised inexpensive cabinet card portraits.

A carte de visite is a stiff card of about 10 x 6.4 cm, with an attached paper photograph, invented in 1854 by André-Adolphe-Eugène Disderi. They were introduced into Australia in 1859 by William Blackwood with albums arriving in 1860, aiding the collection and distribution of multiple cartes. Cartes were usually portraits and were made by the millions worldwide. Multi-lens, or ‘multiplying’ cameras were introduced in the 1860s, which were capable of producing from 2 to 32 images in quick succession, dramatically increasing the number of cartes de visite that could be made from a single photographic plate. They were easily reproduced by making paper contact prints from the glass plates, which were then cut and pasted to card.