Crooks, Julie (2014) Alphonso Lisk‐Carew: early photography in Sierra Leone. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18564 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. Alphonso Lisk-Carew: Early Photography in Sierra Leone Julie Crooks Thesis Submitted for PhD March 2014 Department of the History of Art and Archaeology SOAS University of London © 2014 Julie Crooks All rights reserved Declaration for SOAS PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: _____________________________ Date:_____________________ Abstract This dissertation examines the practice of Sierra Leonean photographer Alphonso Lisk-Carew (1883-1969). Through an exploration of his photography, it engages the key issues relating to Lisk-Carew’s biography, his contribution to Sierra Leonean photography and his photographic practice within a complex multiracial society. In the 1980s, Vera Viditz-Ward’s pioneering scholarship introduced the established, yet little-known, histories of photographic practices in Sierra Leone. Her early research on Alphonso Lisk-Carew engendered a new approach to the study of Sierra Leonean photographers. Here, I build on Viditz-Ward’s groundbreaking work by investigating a range of photographs and postcards that highlight his photographic ideas and practices in Sierra Leone, and by introducing oral testimonies from some of his descendents and friends as well as local citizens. Moreover, I utilize an extensive body of primary materials found in local newspapers such as the Sierra Leone Weekly News to contextualize and shed new light on the social, political and economic contexts under which Lisk-Carew built his commercial enterprise. I also consider Lisk-Carew’s gendered position, and following on from his body of work, examine his legacy in a 1970 retrospective exhibition. Subsequent to the aftermath of a protracted civil war in Sierra Leone (1991- 2002), both individual and institutional archives were decimated and made vulnerable. In light of this, I consider the reconstituting of photographic archives and address the ways in which the surviving institutional archives in Freetown can be reclaimed, preserved and maintained. To the loving memory of my parents, Evelyn Germaine Gaye (1931-2013) and George Jerome Gaye (1925-1997), in appreciation for their unwavering love, encouragement and support, and to my aunt Coretta Isaac (1944-2011),for fostering my love for art and art history. Table of Contents Acknowledgements viii Introduction 1 Setting the Stage 2 Theoretical Framework 4 The Period Eye and the Historical Imagination 4 Methodology 5 “She Na Salone Pickin.” 5 Visual Materials 7 Materiality and Condition Visual Material 11 Oral Testimonies 13 The Printed Press 16 Chapter Breakdown 17 Chapter One: Constituting and Contesting Sierra Leone through the Photographic Lens 20 Review of the Literature 22 First Encounters 23 From the Studio to the Museum 28 In the Field 33 African Photographs: New Approaches 37 Sierra Leone: The First Hundred Years Redux 39 The Development of Freetown 39 Early Cultural Production in a Cosmopolitan City 49 The Decline of the Creoles 52 Photography in Freetown 54 The Development of the Scene 54 W.S. Johnston 62 Illustrations 66 Chapter Two: Alphonso Lisk-Carew’s Life and Work 68 Early Life in Freetown 69 Photography and Experience, 1903-1910 79 Picturing a Royal Visit, 1910 89 Bestowal of Royal Patronage, 1912 92 The African Times and Orient Review 93 Photography Outside of Sierra Leone 97 Liberia, 1912 97 The Gambia, 1914 98 London, 1917-1919 99 The Red Book of West Africa, 1919-1920 103 The Winds of Change, 1920 107 Phantasmagoria Cinema Shows in Freetown, 1920-1930 110 “A Willful Perversion of the Truth,” 1930-1934 114 The West African Youth League, 1938-1943 116 World War Two, 1939-1945 120 New Ventures, 1945-1948 121 vi To the End 125 Illustrations 128 Chapter Three: In and Out of Sierra Leone through Lisk-Carew’s Lens 130 A Cabinet Card 132 Studio Portraiture 136 Official Commissions 141 The Royal Visit 148 The Gambia 155 Postcards 159 Early Postcards 161 An African Flâneur 165 The Liberian Postcards 172 Lisk-Carew Brothers 174 A Series of Chiefs 175 Portraits of Children and World War Two 178 Picturing Landscapes: Rural and Urban 182 The Absences 184 Illustrations 188 Chapter Four: Bundu Girls, Creole Brides and Yooba Women: Lisk-Carew’s Gendered Images 206 Bundu Girls 208 Bondo in the City 208 Photographing the Bundu Girls 212 Picturing the Bundu Woman in Freetown 214 Creole Brides 221 Creole Brides in Freetown 221 Constructing the Creole Bride in Studio Photographs 226 The Yooba Woman 232 Morality and Sexual Representations: Lisk-Carew’s Erotic Postcards of the Yooba Woman 232 Yoobas in Sierra Leone 234 The Yooba in Lisk-Carew’s Postcards 237 Illustrations 246 Chapter Five: “The Old Guard Changeth”: A Retrospective Exhibition and Lisk-Carew’s Legacy 254 Re-discovering Alphonso Lisk-Carew and the Exhibition of Sierra Leoneana 255 Mapping the Social and Political Landscape, 1950-1969 255 Connections 258 Inside the Exhibition of Sierra Leoneana: A Nation on Display 263 Lisk-Carew’s Legacy: The Post-Colonial Era 268 Jonathan Adenuga 270 Christo Greene 272 Ronald Fashola Luke 274 A.C.M. George 277 “Pa” Francis Mack Kongo 279 Lisk-Carew’s Legacy: The War and Post-Conflict Sierra Leone 282 vii Augustine K. Blango 282 Francess Ngaboh-Smart 286 The Sierra Leone Union of Photographers (SLUP) 288 Illustrations 292 Conclusion 299 Cultural Heritage Rebuilding and the Archives: Remembering, Forgetting, Reclaiming 300 Remembering 300 Forgetting 305 Reclaiming 308 Illustrations 315 Bibliography 318 Acknowledgements I cherish a particular photograph of my paternal grandmother, Emma Egletine Gaye. She was born in the 1890s in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and the image was taken in the 1920s, soon after my father was born. Grandmother Gaye strikes a formal pose in what seems to be a studio setting, yet she appears poised, self-possessed and at ease with whatever directions the unknown photographer has imparted. There is neither an inscription on the verso of the photograph, revealing little about to whom this portrait was intended, nor any indication of its specific source. The Freetown studio in which it was taken remains unidentified. This image served as one of the catalysts for undertaking this dissertation, galvanising its research and writing. Along this extensive journey, I have benefitted from the support, patience and guidance of numerous people. First, my most earnest thanks go to my supervisor, Charles Gore. Not only did his unwavering support, sage advice and endless patience carry me through this project, but his extensive knowledge of photography in Africa and years of experience in the field acted a springboard for my own research. I remain indebted to Andrew Lisk-Carew for generously sharing the story of his father’s life and career and cherish our friendship that grew over the years. I am thankful to Vera Viditz-Ward, whose pioneering research was an important touchstone and impetus for my project, and to the late Christopher Fyfe, whose words of encouragement at the outset of my research spurred me to pursue my goal. I am deeply grateful to Christraud Geary, Gary Schultz, Terence Dickinson and Isa Blyden for generously sharing their extensive collections of photographs and postcards by Alphonso Lisk- Carew and other Sierra Leonean photographers and for grating me permission to use ix several samples in this dissertation. Louise Gauthier acted as coach, editor and counsellor during the last stages of writing, for which I owe her great thanks. I would like to acknowledge the mentoring and guidance I received during the course of my research and writing from many of my colleagues, in particular: Erin Haney, Elizabeth Harney, Erika Nimis, Marieme Lo, Warren Crichlow, Kass Banning, Afua Cooper, Silvia Forni, Festus Cole and Sarah Parsons. I would also like to thank my friends Khadija Kamara, Karen Tyrell, Alison Taylor, Elaine Genius, maxine bailey, June Givanni, Karen Carter and Michael Griffiths. Their unfailing support and encouragement sustained me throughout this project. I also extend my appreciation to all those who provided assistance and guidance during my fieldwork in Sierra Leone. In this regard, I must acknowledge in particular: Steven Momoh, President of the Sierra Leone Union of Photographers, Dennis Williams, Cassandra Garver, Paulina Holland-Campbell, Albert Moore, Senior Government Archivist at the Sierra Leone Public Archives, Ibrahim Abdullah and Aisha Fofona of Forah Bay College, Marcella Davis, Christo Greene, Augustine K. Blango, Ronald Fashola Luke, A.C.M. George, Pa Francis Kongo, Francess Ngaboh-Smart and the many photographers with whom I discussed the subject of this dissertation and who offered their expert knowledge and advice. I extend my most heartfelt gratitude to my family, especially my husband, Nathaniel Crooks, and our children, Zachary, Thaddeus and Harrison.