Dictionary / Encyclopedia Article

Photography, History of

SOHIER, Estelle

Reference

SOHIER, Estelle. Photography, History of. In: Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: O-X. Harrassowitz Verlag, 2010. p. 145-149

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1 / 1 Photography, history of 35 cylinders during his stay in Ethiopia 1921 to 1924, and Max ÷Grühl completed seven cyl- inders in 1926 during the German Nile–Lake Rudolf–Käfa-Expedi- tion. Information about these recordings is sup- plied in the accompa- nying documentation and correspondence. The P. of Berlin fo- cus on music. They provide a survey of tra- ditional songs, public performances, musical instruments and short examples of texts. To- day the collections be- long to the Department Max Grühl and his team recording music with a phonograph during the Käfa expedition of Ethnomusicology (1925–26); photo from Grühl, 1935 pl. 31 in the Ethnographical Museum and National Museum in Berlin, and Photography, history of are part of the early cylinder recordings inscribed Since its beginnings P. has contributed consider- in the UNESCO list “Memory of the World” in ably to scientifi c research; ÷archaeology docu- 1999. mented its fi ndings in P. already from the late Other P. collections are found in Sweden and 19th cent. (e.g., DAE I–IV), and ethnographical Austria. A collection recorded by the Swedish research heavily relied on P. and still does (e.g., missionary Gustaf Richard ÷Sundström com- VSAe I–III). In recent years, historical photos prises 30 cylinders from about 1912. The Vienna have been used to trace environmental change Phonogramm archiv holds phonograms of GéŸéz, (e.g., Nyssen et al. 2009). Especially since the recorded in 1912 in Cairo and Jerusalem by R.A. 1980s photographic collections concerning Ethi- Péter and G. Klameth. opia and have been used by researchers as Src.: Montagu Sinclair Wellby, ‘Twixt Sirdar and historical documents and sources (Triulzi 1988; Menelik, London 1901, 76ff. Lit.: Abraham Demoz, “Emperor Menelik‘s Phonograph 1995). Message to Queen Victoria”, BSOAS 32, 2, 1969, 251–56; Photographs can be traced in public and private ArEvang 357; DAE I; Max Grühl, Abessinien ahoi, Ber- collections in Ethiopia or abroad, especially in lin 1935, pl. 31; Felix Rosen, Eine deutsche Gesandtschaft Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the in Abessinien, Leipzig 1907; Wolbert G.C. Smidt, “A United States, Switzerland, but also in other coun- War-Song on Yohannes IV against the Egyptians, Recited by Lég Täfäri in Aksum, 1906”, Studies of the Department tries. The photographers had very different back- of African Languages and Cultures, Warsaw University grounds – amateurs or professionals, missionaries, 41, 2007, 107–31; Timkehet Teffera, Historische Tonauf- craftsmen, colonialists, scientists, businessmen, nahmen aus Axum – Äthiopien: Sammlung Kaschke 1906, Europeans, Indians, Ethiopians and others. Pho- ms., Phonogramm-Archiv Berlin 2002; Rainer Voigt, “Gärmän dägg näw ‘Deutsches/Deutschland ist gut!’: Ein tographers of the Horn had various interests and amharisches Lied zu Ehren des deutschen Kaisers aus der cultures that led to a very diverse production. Sammlung Kaschke”, Aethiopica 7, 2004, 146–59; Susanne Photos of Ethiopia can today be found in private collec- Ziegler, “Historical Sound Recordings from Ethio- tions, ÷museums, ÷libraries, and P. agencies. They are pia on Wax Cylinders” in: AfrHorn 322–43; Ead., Die conserved as originals (mostly on paper but also dry plates, Wachszylinder des Berliner Phonogramm-Archivs (mit stereoscopic glass slides, etc.), as printed photos from CD-ROM), Berlin 2006; Ead., “Die phonographische books, or kept in electronic data bases. One of the most Sammlung von Erich Kaschke (Axum-Expedition 1906)”, important collections belongs to the ÷Institute of Ethi- in: WenDAE II, in preparation. opian Studies in Addis Abäba. The Istituto Italiano per Susanne Ziegler l’ e l’Oriente in Rome and the University “l’Orien-

145 Photography, history of ian Secondo Bertolani from the early 20th cent. were – and still are – published in many books both in Ethiopia and abroad (GueCopMen). The young Eritrean colony witnessed the fi rst photograph- ic studios. The photographers Luigi Naretti, Giovanni and Francesco Nicotra or Ledru Mauro from Messina estab- lished themselves in ÷ from 1885. Up to 1897 they mostly photographed military topics, following the colonial Fig. 1: Detail from a panorama photo showing the Napier expedition’s fleet at Zula expansion of Eritrea. Some- bay; photo 1867/68, Agfa Fotorama, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Köln times authorized by the Minis- try of War to follow the Italian tale” in possess a great number of pictures of Eri- troops inside the country, some photographers trea and Ethiopia (Palma 1996; 2005). The Völkerkunde- provided information about the colonial con- museum of Zurich University keeps the photographic quest, such as Luigi Fiorillo (Goglia 1989: 17). collection of Alfred ÷Ilg of some 1,000 silver bromide gelatine dry plates and stereoscopic glass slides (Biasio The military commanders were eager to promote 2004). In France there are numerous public and private propaganda about the success of their opera- collections, e.g., in the ÷Bibliothèque nationale (Hirsch – tions, or used photography to identify brigands Perret 1995). In Germany, an important collection of (Palma 2005: 42). The fi rst photographic produc- ethnographic photos is kept by the Frobenius-Institut in tion was therefore devoted to Italian achieve- Frankfurt/Main. The Kunstkamera of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Rus- sian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, preserves 19th- to early 20th-cent. photos of Russian travellers. In Canada, the electronic database DEEDS conserves thousands of photographs of Ethiopian cultural sites for scholarly use. P. was fi rst used in Ethiopia in 1859 by Henry ÷Stern, a Protestant missionary, who took pic- tures of people and places. Most photos seem to have disappeared but are known from the engrav- ings he published in 1862. The British expedition of 1867–68 next made an extensive use of the cam- era (cp. fi g. 1). Seven professional photographers attached to the troops took pictures of military interest, but also of Ethiopian personalities (e.g., the son of ÷Tewodros II, ÷ŸAlämayyähu), of settlements and landscapes (some of them were published in Pankhurst – Gérard 1996: 19ff.; s. also Gräber 1999). Following the advances in photographic technique, the number of ama- teur photographers increased in the last quarter of the 19th cent. Explorers, craftsmen, business- men and missionaries visiting the coastal regions (÷Eritrea; ÷Djibouti) and ÷Šäwa, ÷Ogaden, ÷Käfa, ÷Gimma, ÷Somali, ÷Tégray etc. pro- duced photographs, some for use in travel litera- ture, thanks to the advance of ÷printing technol- Fig. 2: A photo of the éccäge Tewofl os by Naretti, ca. ogy. E.g., the impressive photographs of the Ital- 1880s; from GueCopMen 144

146 Photography, history of ments, views of Massawa, native troops but also to arrested persons, trials or to chiefs who allied themselves with the Italians (Palma 2005: 46). The most important photographer of this period was Luigi Naretti (cp. fi g. 2). He photographed such personalities as ras ÷Mängäša Yohannés in Mäqälä (GueCopMen 1, 352), and also the palace of the ruler ÷Yohannés IV, built by his cousin Giacomo ÷Naretti (Palma 2002). Like the other photographers, Naretti published his pictures as postcards for sale in the colony, or sold them to the growing Italian illustrated ÷press. P. then contributed to the construction of a greater con- sensus among the still very much divided public in favour of colonialism (Palma 2005: 40). After the turn of the 20th cent., new photographers ar- rived in Eritrea in a more peaceful context and photographed the local population, daily life and the city rather than offi cials. Considerable ex- pansion of P. took place in ÷Asmära during the conquest of Ethiopia in 1936. In Ethiopia, the fi rst studio was opened in Addis Abäba in 1905 by Bedros Boyadjian. During a visit together with the archbishop of the Armenia Church of Jerusalem, he was asked by ase ÷Ménilék II to stay in Ethiopia. The establish- ment of the Armenian Levon Yazidjian from the ÷Ottoman Empire followed in 1909, then that of Fig. 3: Fitawrari “Wazazu Atefek” (Wäzäzu [?] Atäfk), the Indian G. Mody. P. expanded signifi cantly in postcard printed in Ethiopia; photo 1930s, un- the 1920s, with the opening of several studios by known photographer, from the collection of the foreigners, mainly along Ras Mäkwännén Avenue IES (W no. 149) (Pankhurst – Gérard 1996: 36). Some profession- more than half a century. Photos of Ménilék II, als also practised provisionally in the country, es- ÷Zäwditu, and Täfäri (later ase Òaylä Íéllase I) pecially during national events such as the ÷cor- also led to such by-products as postcards, coins, onation of ÷Òaylä Íéllase I in 1930, for instance medals (÷Orders and decorations) and ÷stamps. the German Josef Steinlehner. Several photogra- They also led to a change of style in royal por- phers also began offering cheap “minute photo- traits in church ÷paintings (Sohier 2007; e.g., graphs” in the market area (Pankhurst – Gérard néguí ÷Mikaýel Ali with an imperial crown in 1996: 36), but P. remained a luxury product be- a miniature in a ms. of Däbrä Hayq Éstifanos, fore the Italian invasion. after a photo, s. Smidt 2008). The creation and From the beginning, P. played a role in the use of these pictures were part of the sovereigns’ political life of the Horn. Yohannés IV was the answer to the deep political and geographical fi rst ruler to have been portrayed by a camera, transformation of these times and to the defence both alone and with his son ÷Arýaya in the of their independence from colonial conquest. 1880s. Ménilék II and his successors then made The use of P. formed part of a wider symbolic consequent political use of the new medium, policy that included other means such as texts and their portraits are countless. In the begin- and ceremonies (Sohier 2007). P. was also used ning, Ménilék II used the skills of amateur pho- as evidence during political or judicial problems, tographers from the 1880s such as Alfred Ilg or including for the purpose of political defama- of Secondo Bertolani, an employee of the Ital- tion: for example, a modifi ed photograph of lég ian legation. After 1905 Bedros Boyadjian and ÷Iyasu in Muslim dress, produced by Levon his successors Haïgaz and Tony Boyadjian be- Yazedjian, contributed to his fall in September came the offi cial photographers of the court for 1916 (Berhanou Abebe 2003; however, a photo 147 Photography, history of published after the war as evidence of the violence used by the fascist troops (Kali-Nyah 1946). But the main part of Italian photographic production during the occupation was dedicated to their huge construction works. At the same time, the followers of Òaylä Íéllase also used P. to support their struggle. The Austrian Arnold Weinhold took pictures of Ethiopian ÷re- sistance fi ghters (Pankhurst – Gérard 1998: 144), whilst British photographers documented the troops of the King of Kings and his return to Ethi- opia. These images were reproduced in different mediums (books, church paintings) by the Ethi- opian royalty after 1941 to justify its behaviour Fig. 4: Òaylä Íéllase’s mobilization during the Italian during the war (cp. fi g. 4). Later, a defamatory conquest, photo 1935/36, unknown photographer, photographic campaign was, in turn, used against 1935–36; from the collection of the IES (S1, no. 12) Òaylä Íéllase by his adversaries during the ÷Rev- portrait of néguí Mikaýel, said to be a falsifi cation olution of 1974 (Perret 1995); the distribution of [s. Berhanou Abebe 2003] was in fact a real pho- photos and fi lm material of the Wällo ÷famine to, s. Smidt 2008). Numerous modifi cations were was of crucial importance for the change in public also done for purposes of layout and clarity. opinion towards the ruler both locally as well as Beginning with the death of ras ÷Mäkwännén internationally. Pictures of Òaylä Íéllase then dis- in 1906, it also became customary to display a appeared from the public arena until 1991. photographic effi gy of the deceased during the Progressive change marked photographic pro- funeral procession, whenever such a portrait was duction in the second half of the 20th cent. Until available (Pankhurst – Gérard 1996:30). the 1930s, only one Ethiopian photographer ac- P. and its by-products were also widely used quired some importance, but after the war Ethio- by the Italian government to legitimize the co- pia’s professional and amateur photographers in- lonial conquest of Ethiopia in 1936. The Istituto creased. The Ministry of Information sent students LUCE was established in Asmära and transferred abroad to study photograph-reportage; the court to Addis Abäba after the con- employed Ethiopian photogra- quest. 7,000 negatives had by phers, such as Yohannés Òaylä then been reproduced, and were (Pankhurst – Gérard 1998: 134) distributed in 350,000 copies, or later Šimällés Dästa. Italians 60,000 metres of fi lm were shot and Armenians opened popular and 18 documentaries produced photo studios (cp. fi g. 3) in the (Goglia 1989: 34f.). P. was the capital, such as “Photalité” near tool of carefully produced prop- the National Theatre or “Photo aganda and contributed to the Jiro”, but there were also Ethio- popularity of the conquest in It- pian studios, such as “Photo aly. Erotic pictures of Ethiopian Berhan” or “Photo Speedy” women were also designed to ap- (Pankhurst – Gérard 1998: 145). peal to Mussolini’s soldiers, but The numbers of studios in- were withdrawn after the estab- creased dramatically in all the lishment of a policy of racial dis- regional capitals of the country crimination in ÷Africa Orientale during the last quarter of the 20th Italiana (÷Sexuality). Alongside cent., whilst the cost of P. became the offi cial photographic pro- affordable to many. P. accom- duction, many Italian soldiers panied the life of urban Ethio- also used their own cameras to pians (especially important for record their adventures (e.g., infancy, graduation ceremonies, Fig. 5: Photographed on commission: Stu- Steinacher 2006). Photos of mas- dio “Photo Matéwos”, Mätähara, weddings, and burials). Ethio- sacres were also taken, and then 1977; private collection pian photographers developed

148 Piaggia, Carlo their own style from imported techniques. The tectural, Addis Ababa 2007; Gerd Gräber, “Die befrei- retouching and colouring of photos is an Ethiopi- ten Geiseln Kaiser Tewodros’ II. Aus dem Photoalbum der Royal Engineers 1867/68”, Aethiopica 2, 1999, 159– an speciality, derived from techniques introduced 82; GueCopMen 1, 352; Guy Hersant, “Portraits peints by Armenian photographers (Hersan 1998); the d’Addis-Ababa”, in: Anthologie de la photographie africai- technique of duplicated or doubled portraits was ne, Revue Noire, Paris 1998, 148–51; Bertrand Hirsch – used in Ethiopia and Eritrea – as in West Africa – Michel Perret, Ethiopie, années 30, Paris 1989; Id., from the 1970s (cp. fi g. 5). The Ethiopian tour- “Fonds photographiques français concernant l’Ethiopie: quelques réfl exions préliminaires”, in: Triulzi 1995, 213– ist information offi ce issued postcards and made 19; Imani Kali-Nyah, Italy’s War Crimes in Ethiopia extensive use of P. to attract tourists (one photo 1935–1941, Evidence for the War Crimes Commission, ed. from a 1960s touristic brochure later even served by Sylvia Pankhurst, s.l. [Essex] 1946 (2nd ed. Chicago, as a model for the one Bérr note showing a shep- IL 2000); Jan Nyssen et al., “Desertifi cation? Northern Ethiopia Re-photographed after 140 years”, Science of herd boy). the Total Environment 10, 1016, 2009; Adolfo Mignemi Not all inhabitants of the Horn have access to (ed.), Immagine coordinata per un impero. Etiopia 1935– or show any interest in P. In the south of Ethi- 1936, Novara 1984; Silvana Palma (ed.), Archivio storico opia, e.g., the ÷Ña¡atom still had no interest, della società africana d’Italia, vol. 2: Raccolte fotografi che they showed moreover some suspicion towards e cartografi che, Napoli 1996; Ead., “Fotografi a di una co- lonia: L’Eritrea di Luigi Naretti (1885–1900)”, Quaderni the camera in the 1970s (Tornay 1991). Some Storici 109, 2002, 83–147; Ead., “The Seen, the Unseen, Muslims today refuse to be photographed, even the Invented. Misrepresentations of African ‘Otherness’ if most did not in the past (such as in ÷Somalia). in the Making of a Colony. Eritrea, 1885–1896”, Cahiers For other groups of the ÷Omo region, the pho- d’Études africaines 45, 1, 177, 2005, 39–69; Ead., L’Africa nella collezione fotografi ca dell’IsIAO. Il fondo Eritrea– tographic activities of tourists or other profes- Etiopia, Roma 2005; Richard P ankhurst – Denis G érard, sionals in search of exoticism and supporters of Ethiopia Photographed: Historic Photographs of the Coun- primitivism myths are nowadays a source of in- try and its People taken between 1867 and 1935, London – come for the photographed (Tornay 2009). New York 1996, 27 (ill.); Iid., “Photographes de cour”, Already in the 1930s and 1950s, but to a much in: Anthologie de la photographie africaine et de l’Océan Indien, Paris 1998, 133–46; Wolbert G.C. Smidt, “The higher degree from the 1990s, photo books at- Coronation of Negus Mikael, King of Wollo and Tigray, tracted the interest of the public in Ethiopia and in May 1914: New Findings”, AE 23, 2007–08, 413–39 formed the image of Ethiopia in the West. Origi- (Lit.); Id., Photos as Historical Witnesses, the First Ethi- nally, photo books focused more on the Chris- opians in Germany and the First Germans in Ethiopia – tian highlands, with some interest in Muslim are- the History of a Complex Relationship, Münster – Berlin ²2009; Estelle Sohier, Politiques de l’image et as in eastern Ethiopia (such as ÷Harär); in recent pouvoir royal en Éthiopie de Menilek II à Haylä Sellasé years a great number of high-quality art-print (1880–1936), Ph.D. thesis, Université Paris I Panthéon- books have focused on southern populations, Sorbonne – Università “l’Orientale” Napoli, 2007; Gerald regarded as “exotic” witnesses of the richness of Steinacher (ed.), Zwischen Duce und Negus, Südtirol und der Abessinienkrieg 1935–1941, Bozen 2006 (Publi- human culture, while many photo publications cazioni dell’Archivio Provinciale di Bolzano 22); Serge also uncovered the great iconographic herit- Tornay, “Photographie et traitement d’autrui: réfl exions age of the highlands. Due to a rising interest in d’un ethnographe”, L’Ethnographie 87, 1, 1991, 97–112; historical P., there are a number of new books Id., “Du corps humain comme marchandise. Mythe pri- documenting the Ethiopia of the past through mitiviste et harcèlement photographique dans la Vallée de l’Omo, Éthiopie”, Afrique et histoire 7, 2009, 331–42; historical photo collections (e.g., Pankhurst – Alessandro Triulzi, “Fotografi a coloniale e storia del- Gérard 1996; Biasio 2004; Steinacher 2006; Fasil l’Africa”, Archivio Fotografi co Toscano, Rivista di Storia Giorghis – Gérard 2007; Smidt 2009). e Fotografi a 8, 1988, 39–42; Id. (ed.), Fotografi a e storia Lit.: Berhanou Abebe, “Montages et trucages photogra- dell’Africa, Atti del Convegno Internazionale Napoli – phiques dans l’Éthiopie moderne”, AE 19, 2003, 19–41; Roma 9–11 settembre 1992, Napoli 1995; Id., “Africa: die- Id., “Les Boyadjian, photographes de cour en Éthiopie”, ci anni di indagine. A che punto siamo”, Archivio Fotogra- in: Alain Metternich (ed.), Les Boyadjian, Photographes fi co Toscano 21, 1995, 7–11. arméniens à la cour du Négus, Paris 2007 (Connaissance des Estelle Sohier Arts, Hors-série 327), 3–13; Elisabeth Biasio, Prunk und Pracht am Hofe Menileks: Alfred Ilgs Äthiopien um 1900 – Physiologos ÷Fisalgos Majesty and Magnifi cence at the Court of Menilek: Alfred Ilg‘s Ethiopia, Zürich 2004; Antoine Cheret, Les photo- Piaggia, Carlo graphies anciennes de l’Ethiopie (1888–1930), M.A. thesis, P. (b. 4 January 1827, Badia Cantignano, Lucca, Université Paris I, 1995; Luigi Goglia, Colonialismo e fo- Italy, d. 17 January 1882, Karkodje, Sinnar) was tografi a. Il caso italiano, Messina 1989; Fasil Giorghis – Denis Gérard, Addis Ababa 1886–1941: the City and its an Italian traveller and explorer. After the sudden Architectural Heritage/La Ville et son Patrimoine archi- loss of his family in 1849, he travelled to Tunis

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