 Thwaites mainly served aboard SS "Dora", a ship that was part of the Northwestern Steamship Company fleet, but also was assigned to other schooners travelling in the Alaskan region and was one of the men on board "Farallon" when she was wrecked.Thwaites was an amateur photographer who owned a Kodak 3-A Special camera, popular in the postcard industry.He used photography to document the events of the wreck of "Farallon" and the subsequent efforts of the shipwrecked men to survive while stranded on the shore of Iliamna Bay, depicting the desolate and harsh environment the men and documenting the survival efforts the men made to stay alive.