A provisional survey of nineteenth century photography on the Gold Coast and in Ashanti focussed on the Basel Mission collection, and with special reference to the images linked to the war of 1874

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	A provisional survey of nineteenth century photography on the Gold Coast and in Ashanti focussed on the Basel Mission collection, and with special reference to the images linked to the war of 1874
Author:	Jenkins, Paul
Year:	2005
Periodical:	Journal des africanistes
Volume:	75
Issue:	2
Page:	103
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	Ashanti Ashanti polity photography history missions 1800-1899 1900-1909
Abstract:	Using the particularly well-preserved Basel Mission collection of photographs as visual sources, this paper proposes an outline history of photography in the Gold Coast and Asante in the 19th century. After a presentation of quantitative data, and a discussion of five missionaries known to have taken photographs between the 1850s and 1914, the author questions the potential of these pictures as sources of Asante history. He argues there was much contrast between the Gold Coast colony, where photography early became very popular, and Asante, where the authorities seem not to have encouraged the new practice. Most of the images of Asante before 1896 are engravings made from photographs taken in 1874 during the first sack of Kumasi in 1874. They mirror public curiosity in Europe about independent Asante. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French, full text of the article on accompanying CD-ROM (AFRIKA CDR-68). [Journal abstract]