Hi John
If you post a high-resolution scan of just of the medal ribbons we can confirm if they are Boer War medals or not. If you have information on his WW1 experience the rest of the photograph is not important.
If you are correct with either date of the photograph they cannot be WW1 medals, as they were not issued until a few years after the war had ended. So there is a good chance that they are Boer War medals, or one for South Africa and one for Long Service and Good Conduct. Four good conduct ‘badges’ in 1914 indicated 18 years of ‘good’ service. So for him to be time-expired in 1902 he must be getting on a bit when WW1 started.
Ken