Unidentified photographer / artist
1906 (ca)
19 scenes of German South-West Africa

Sepia print, glossy
5 x 7 in
 
Larry Gottheim, Be-hold, Inc
Courtesy of Larry Gottheim - Be-Hold (50 / 47)
 
These are 5" x 7" glossy sepia prints, with "D.-Sud-Westafrika" stamp and circular stamp for "Photo-Centralo des Kolonialkriegerdank G.m.b.H. Berlin." Most have pencil identification and other information in German script on the verso.
 :,br> These are 19 significant sympathetic studies of the Herero, Ovambo and Nama (referred to as "Hottentot") peoples. They seem to be the work of the same photographer, but there is no photographer named. There is some indication that these might have been re-photographed in the period from larger prints.The area, now Namibia, was a German colony from 1884 to 1915. In 1893, 1894, there was an uprising by the Nama (the "Hottentot uprising"). In 1904 there was an uprising of the Herero, leading to a genocide of those people. The uprising was joined by the Nama, and hostilities didn't end until 1907. One of these photographs shows a Hottentot couple in front of a cloth tent that incorporates a cloth marked "Stettin 1906," so some or all of the photographs were made after that time.
 :,br> While these don't seem to have the character of propaganda images, they nevertheless show the daily life of the people untouched by the devastation and starvation that preceded 1907. Perhaps some were made earlier. In any case, despite the partiality of the coverage, these are fine documents of the customs of the people.
 
LL/22372