This website is dedicated to all African photographers who since the 19th century have profoundly contributed to the visual creation of the continent, as well as to all who are interested in the history of African photography.
The history of West and Central African indigenous photography began in the 1850s und 60s when Africans opened studios in seaports such as Freetown, Monrovia or Accra or worked as itinerant photographers along the West and Central African coasts and the hinterland. Of their contributions to the historical creative record, and the extent to which they contributed to the visual fabric of the 19th and 20th centuries, we have only begun to recognize and take stock.
Given the importance of African historical photographs for West and Central African history and history of visual culture, it is lamentable that the photographs themselves and the information referring to them are widely scattered in repositories in Africa, Europe, and the United States. Evidently, the material to write a history of African photography is “there” - yet too often we do not know where exactly to find it.
