tity of the author or the patron, these works account for the ambiguity of images that acquire different meanings according to the context in which they circulate (fi g. 4). AMATEUR PRACTICES The second section of the exhibition focuses on images produced by two amateur photographers in Saint Louis, Senegal, from the 1910s to the 1940s. As the historical capital of French West Africa, Saint Louis had a privileged 84 position: Not only did its harbor receive the latest technologies before they circulated inland, but it was home to a cosmopolitan population that enjoyed French citizenship. While the names of these amateurs remain unknown to us, their works give clues regarding their identities: One was Wolof, the dominant ethnic group in Senegal (fi g. 5), while the other was Métis, that is, with a mixed European and Senegalese ancestry (fi g. 6). Unlike professional photographers, these amateurs did not work within the formalized space of the studio. Rather, they took pictures during their leisure time, using their homes or cityscape as their backdrops. STUDIO PRACTICES IN SENEGAL By the 1950s, portrait photography had become a lucrative and fl ourishing business across Senegal. Photographic studios were active around the country beyond the main urban centers. While photographers often did not sign their prints, each developed his own aesthet- FIG. 6 (left): Unknown Artist (Senegal), Three Women, Outdoors, c. 1915. Glass negative. 5.7 x 7.6 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Visual Resource Archive, Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas (VRA.2014.8.016). Alongside dozens of other families from Saint Louis, the women photographed here are Métis, the result of a rooted history of métissage that has its origins in the Portuguese presence in Senegal in the sixteenth century. In this mixed society, the women had exceptional economic and political power and played a signifi cant role in the colony. In this image, the women are seen from afar during their leisure time in a park. From this angle, the viewer can hardly see their faces and the composition is dominated by the tall palms with the sunlight fi ltering through the branches. The strong female presence in this series reveals the women’s appreciation of this medium and opens up the possibility that they might have authored them. FIG. 7 (left): Unknown Artist (Senegal), Two Women in a Portrait Studio, 1950s–1960s. Gelatin silver print. 17.8 x 13 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Visual Resource Archive, Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas (VRA.2014.8.050). FIG. 8 (below): Mama Casset (Senegalese, 1908–1992), Two Reclining Women, 1950s–1960s. Gelatin silver print. 12.7 x 17.5 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Visual Resource Archive, Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas (VRA.2014.8.049). Compared to earlier photographers, Mama Casset experimented with artifi cial lighting and close framing. He often blurred the background in order to enhance the sitter’s facial features, eyes, expression, and hand gestures. In modulating the image’s sharpness and chiaroscuro, Casset created dynamic images that enthrone the sitter like a fi lm star under the spotlight.
•TribalPaginaIntera.indd
To see the actual publication please follow the link above