ART on view 86 LIFE in 1947 (fig. 3).7 Even though the accompanying captions in the article reveal the racial prejudices of the times (i.e., “African Big Shot” and “A Fat Black Monarch”), Elisofon’s photograph revealed an African royal presence through the king’s spectacular cowryladen costume, headdress, and accouterments.8 The exhibition showcases the king’s portrait—printed as a large-scale image on brushed aluminum with theater lighting (fig. 4). The three-dimensional quality of the reflective medium endows it with a performative quality that invites viewers into a virtual encounter with the subject. 9 The king’s image is represented within the context of Elisofon’s vintage black-and-white prints of Kuba carvers and weavers at work (fig. 5), an embroidered raffia cloth, a razor, and a carved wooden box and cup that were gifts from the king (figs. 6 and 9). The link between photography and art repeats throughout Africa ReViewed. In Malakal, Sudan, Elisofon photographed a beautiful Shilluk woman wearing a set of incised metal pendants on necklaces, an image featured on the cover of LIFE in 1950 (fig. 7). The installation features her impressive portrait (also printed on aluminum with theater lighting) next to the actual necklaces and pendants she is wearing, which were either previously or subsequently collected by Elisofon (fig. 8). The extended label includes Elisofon’s photograph of a Shilluk artist in southern Sudan creating the incised pendants with aluminum he had obtained from an airplane crash. It is a wonderful example of how African artists engage in dynamic artistic practices and adapt traditional artwork to available resources and recycled materials. These kinds of juxtapositions between the objects and their photographs “in situ” are intended to encourage questions about authenticity and staging, and they suggest the ways in which Elisofon’s photographic and collection practices both intersected and were inextricably intertwined. From his 1947 “Cape Town to Cairo” expedition, Elisofon developed a unique style of art documentary photography that became the hallmark of his work in Africa. This included his collaborative portrait sessions with African leaders; his large-format black-and-white photographs and color slides of the art, pageantry, and ritual of Central African peoples; and his architectural photography of the pyramids and monuments of Egypt. Vintage prints of Elisofon’s black-and-white photographs FIG. 6 (left): Cup. Kuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mid-20th century. Wood. H: 18.4 cm. National Museum of African Art, bequest of Eliot Elisofon, 73-7-412. Photo: Franko Khoury. FIG. 7 (below): Shilluk woman wearing pendants. LIFE magazine, The Nile issue, November 20, 1950. Photograph by Eliot Elisofon, 1947. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images. FIG. 8 (center left): Installation view of Africa ReViewed featuring Shilluk pendants, South Sudan. National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Photograph by Franko Khoury. FIG. 9 (lower left): Box. Kuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mid-20th century. Wood. L: 28.5 cm. National Museum of African Art, bequest of Eliot Elisofon, 73-7-424. Photo: Franko Khoury. FIG. 10 (facing page, left): Moonlight on the colonnade of Amenhotep III at the temple of Amen, Luxor, Egypt. Photograph by Eliot Elisofon, 1947. Vintage silver gelatin print. Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives. National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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