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 Available at: http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:32643 Disclaimer: layout of this document may differ from the published version. 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 Phono gramm 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 opia and Eritrea have been used by researchers as Src.: Montagu Sinclair Wellby, ‘Twixt Sirdar and historical documents and sources (Triulzi 1988; Menelik, London 1901, 76ff.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’Africa 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 ÷Massawa 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 Naples 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) (Pank hurst – 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.