Daintree was a pioneer in the use of photography during field trips and his photographs formed the basis of Queensland's contribution to the Exhibition of Arts and Industry in 1871.

Following the success of the display, he was appointed as Queensland's Agent-General in London in 1872 but was forced to resign in 1876 due to ill-health and malpractice by some of his staff although not Daintree himself.

Together they produced the album Sun pictures of Victoria[3] which comprised photographic prints of Melbourne as well as some of the only existing images of the Victorian goldfields and Australian Aboriginal Peoples from this time.

The invention of the stereomonoscope, by means of which the objects exhibited in a sun picture, of any size, assume solidity and relief to the eye of the spectator, gives an additional value to photographic transcripts of nature.

"[5]Jack Cato in his The Story of the Camera in Australia in his inspection of a copy of Sun Pictures sold by a relative of John Pascoe Fawkner to the State Library of Victoria, deciphered what was meant by the misleading term 'stereomonoscope;' these were not stereograms but "proved to be taken with a Petvzal lens (designed by Viennese scientist) which gave sharp focus to the subject and a diffused focus to the background from which the subject appeared to stand forward, in relief.

[7] The goldfields discovered by Daintree played an important part in tiding North Queensland over the collapse of the pastoral boom in the late 1860s although only the Etheridge deposit proved viable in the longer term.

However, his work proved crucial to attracting prospectors to North Queensland which led to other discoveries and the early development of the area's gold resources.

His collections of photographs and geological specimens formed the basis of Queensland's stand at the Exhibition despite the fact that much of his work was lost when the ship carrying Daintree, his family and the display was wrecked in South Africa.

[8] The success of the display led to Richard Daintree being appointed as Queensland's Agent-General in early 1872 replacing Archibald Archer in that position.

As Agent-General, Daintree worked with great energy stimulating assisted immigration to Queensland, travelling widely to give speeches on the colony and producing attractive handbooks featuring his photography.

Their subject matter, mainly that of miners and their living and working conditions, suggest that they may have been used to illustrate the lectures that Daintree gave across Britain to attract immigrants.