PORTFOLIO
140
FIG. 19 (right):
Rudolf or Helene
Oldenburg,
Grasland-Weib aus Bagam
(Grasslands Woman from
Bagam), 1907–1913.
Silver gelatin print, 12 x 15 cm.
Weltmuseum Wien, Fotosammlung,
inv. VF 17517.
FIG. 21 (right): Rudolf or Helene
Oldenburg, Tanzmasken; Bamum (Masked
Dancers; Bamum), 1907–1913.
Silver gelatin print, 12 x 16 cm.
Weltmuseum Wien, Fotosammlung, inv. VF 17489.
Procession of Tu Panka Nyam Pare, leader of the Bamum
warriors. He wears a crest depicting a rider on a leopard.
FIG. 20 (below):
Rudolf or Helene
Oldenburg,
Betende Mohammedaner
II., Sousson; Conakry
(Betende Moslems II.,
Sousson; Conakry),
1902–1906.
Silver gelatin print, 11.6 x 16.5 cm.
Weltmuseum Wien, Fotosammlung,
inv. VF 15785.
These seven praying Muslims were
photographed in the open. The
quality of the image is excellent,
the composition is unusual and
modernistic, and the print is sharp
and detailed. The bowed fi gures of
the worshippers, draped in patterned
garments, somehow appear alien.
The bird’s-eye view of this image
shows that the photographer and his
assistants were obviously situated
above their subjects.
This glass negative and a print of
it dated c. 1904 are digitally archived
in the photography collections of
the Weltmuseum in Vienna. On the
image with the previous sequential
number (VF 15784), the same seven
men are seen standing in front of
a house next to a fence and with
their hands raised as they prepare
to get into prayer position on their
knees. They somehow seem very
distant. Though this was a routine
and everyday scene in French Guinea
at the time, to photograph it from
such an unusual perspective required
vision and originality.
FIG. 18 (below):
Rudolf or Helene
Oldenburg,
Schmiede; Bamum
(Blacksmiths; Bamum),
1907–1913.
Silver gelatin print, 12.2 x 16.6 cm.
Weltmuseum Wien, Fotosammlung,
inv. VF 17407.