A close look at photographic postcards made in Africa in the first
decades of the twentieth century reveals surprising images and
tells their often-complicated stories.
Photographers in Africa grasped the opportunity to serve a lucrative market for images
of the continent, both locally and worldwide, during the global postcard craze that
peaked around 1900 and continued for several decades. Their picture postcards now
contribute to understanding political, social and cultural changes in Africa at the
time, as the rise of the new medium coincided with the expansion and consolidation
of colonial rule. They also provide a way to reconstruct the life and work of the
photographers of European, African and other backgrounds who created these images -
which often survive only in postcard form - and in some cases published them as well.
The cards were produced for residents and travellers in Africa, as well as for buyers
and collectors who had never set foot on the continent. Their depictions of colonial
administrations, exploitation of resources and peoples, as well as images inscribing
tribal identities and racial classifications, often reflect the colonizers' worldview. Yet
it is also possible to recover the authorship of some of the African women and men
who participated in these photographic encounters. For instance, some cards show that
members of Africa's elites recognized the power of photographic images to enhance
their standing and present their own narratives.
Postcards from Africa reproduces a significant selection of these complex cards
- the majority drawn from the extensive Leonard A. Lauder Postcard Archive at the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - accompanied by a leading scholar's exploration of the
stories they tell.
By:
Christraud M. Geary Imprint: Museum of Fine Arts,Boston Country of Publication: United States Dimensions:
Height: 235mm,
Width: 195mm,
Weight: 740g ISBN:9780878468553 ISBN 10: 0878468552 Pages: 148 Publication Date:01 December 2018 Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format:Hardback Publisher's Status: Unknown
