Images of Dahomey - Edmond Fortier and French colonialism in the land of the Voduns.
5 Continents Editions| N° d'inventaire | 23971 |
| Format | 19 x 24.5 |
| Détails | 260 p., 170 photographs, paperback. |
| Publication | Milan, 2020 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9788874398881 |
Photographer Edmond Fortier was born in the Vosges Mountains (France) in 1862, but settled in Dakar, in the French colony of Senegal, in West Africa, during the last decade of the 19th century. He left us a corpus of more than 4,000 images, published mostly in the form of postcards. Since the original negatives have not yet been found, the study of his production involves collecting and organizing objects that have been scattered for more than a hundred years, in the form of correspondence.
This book focuses on a very specific selection: photographs taken in 1908 and 1909 in what was then the French colony of Dahomey. Fortier, who was forty-six years old, was by then an experienced photographer. He had traveled extensively in West Africa, even visiting the remote city of Timbuktu, on the edge of the Sahara Desert, in 1906. A freelance professional, publisher, and small businessman, he produced his postcards in France and sold them in his stationery shop in Dakar to tourists on transatlantic ships stopping in the city and to Europeans living in Africa. In 1908 and 1909, Edmond Fortier made two trips to West Africa, to the colony of Dahomey, now the Republic of Benin. Accompanying the French colonial authorities, he left the Senegalese capital, Dakar, where he resided, and began photographing the delegation's meeting with the people of Dahomey, including kings and ministers; he recorded ceremonies, celebrations, and scenes of daily life. The compilation of these images, originally distributed as postcards, is justified by their documentary value, from a historical and ethnographic point of view. Although Fortier was a foreigner who spent only a few days in Dahomey, his photographs—still little studied—contribute to expanding our knowledge of the history of Benin at the beginning of the 20th century. He probably often interfered in the situations depicted, creating role-playing games, because, possessing advanced technology capable of cataloging and classifying "the other," he was an emblematic representative of colonial domination. On the other hand, conversely, intentionally or not, his way of working had the effect of documenting expressions of African culture and religiosity, thus contributing to the collective memory of the inhabitants of this region. As we will see, thanks to favorable circumstances, Fortier was able to photograph important ceremonies of the Vodun cult. In addition, he provides views of various places such as Cotonou, Uidá, Aladá, Abomé and Sakété. As for the daily life of the population, he visited the Porto-Novo market up close and documented the passage of boats crossing Lake Nokué (Nɔxwe).
Photographer Edmond Fortier was born in the Vosges Mountains (France) in 1862, but settled in Dakar, in the French colony of Senegal, in West Africa, during the last decade of the 19th century. He left us a corpus of more than 4,000 images, published mostly in the form of postcards. Since the original negatives have not yet been found, the study of his production involves collecting and organizing objects that have been scattered for more than a hundred years, in the form of correspondence.
This book focuses on a very specific selection: photographs taken in 1908 and 1909 in what was then the French colony of Dahomey. Fortier, who was forty-six years old, was by then an experienced photographer. He had traveled extensively in West Africa, even visiting the remote city of Timbuktu, on the edge of the Sahara Desert, in 1906. A freelance professional, publisher, and small businessman, he produced his postcards in France and sold them in his stationery shop in Dakar to tourists on transatlantic ships stopping in the city and to Europeans living in Africa. In 1908 and 1909, Edmond Fortier made two trips to West Africa, to the colony of Dahomey, now the Republic of Benin. Accompanying the French colonial authorities, he left the Senegalese capital, Dakar, where he resided, and began photographing the delegation's meeting with the people of Dahomey, including kings and ministers; he recorded ceremonies, celebrations, and scenes of daily life. The compilation of these images, originally distributed as postcards, is justified by their documentary value, from a historical and ethnographic point of view. Although Fortier was a foreigner who spent only a few days in Dahomey, his photographs—still little studied—contribute to expanding our knowledge of the history of Benin at the beginning of the 20th century. He probably often interfered in the situations depicted, creating role-playing games, because, possessing advanced technology capable of cataloging and classifying "the other," he was an emblematic representative of colonial domination. On the other hand, conversely, intentionally or not, his way of working had the effect of documenting expressions of African culture and religiosity, thus contributing to the collective memory of the inhabitants of this region. As we will see, thanks to favorable circumstances, Fortier was able to photograph important ceremonies of the Vodun cult. In addition, he provides views of various places such as Cotonou, Uidá, Aladá, Abomé and Sakété. As for the daily life of the population, he visited the Porto-Novo market up close and documented the passage of boats crossing Lake Nokué (Nɔxwe).