Simon Ottenberg Collection (Nsukka Modern Art Project)
125 Prints
35 Negatives (35 mm )
Marilyn Houlberg Nigeria collection
14 Documents (1 Binder)
1,946 Slides (Color, 35 mm)
The collection consists of 8,515 color slides taken by Dr. Marilyn Houlberg during various field studies among the Yoruba in southwest Nigeria between 1961 and circa 2007. The images depict Yoruba art and culture with a special focus on artisans, art objects, body arts, costume, festivals, hairstyles, indigenous photography, weaving and textiles. Cultural events depicted include Balufon festivals, Egungun and Gelede masquerades, social events (weddings, christenings, funerals), and religious ceremonies (initiation and animal sacrifice). Also included are various scenes of daily life, architecture, food preparation, markets, portraits and landscapes. Houlberg extensively documented Yoruba artists in the process of creating their art, including carvers Yesufu Ejigboye, Runshewe, and Lamidi Fakeye, as well as the final pieces themselves. Houlberg documentated art in situ, such as Yoruba house posts, shrines, wall art and wood doors and art objects, including Gelede masks, Ibeji (twin) and Eshu figures, Osanyin staffs, and Ogboni and Shango shrines. Manuscript and printed materials, including Houlberg's resume, thesis, and numerous published articles are also available in this collection.
Senegal photographs
46 Photographic prints (dupe prints, black & white, 8 x 10 in. or smaller )
8 Photographic prints ((1 box), black & white, 18.5 x 40 cm. or smaller )
32 Photographic prints (cabinet cards (1 box), black & white, 4 x 5.5 in. )
Photographs and cabinet cards from Senegal collected by the staff of the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, during the 1980s. Popular from the mid-1860s through the 1900s, cabinet cards were commercially produced 4" x 5 1/2" photoprints mounted on card stock measuring 4 1/4" x 6 1/2", often with an embossed studio name in the corner. Frequently sold as collectors' items, these cards often contained images of attractive women or royalty of various nationalities. Images include cabinet cards from the Bonnevide Photographic Studio and from J. Barbier.
Roslyn Walker Photographs
11 Photographic prints (Color, duplicates of slides, 4x6 in)
Collection includes (14) 35mm slides and (11) 4 x 6 in prints of slides except for #4 and #10. These materials relate to Roslyn Walker's trip to Oshogbo, Nigeria in August of 1999, to visit Chief Adebisi Akanji where he lived with Susan Wenger (1915-2009). During this trip, Walker asked Akanji about his work. His ongoing project at that …
Robert and Nancy Nooter photographs
Photographs taken by Robert and Nancy Nooter of Swahili doors of coastal Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar and pyramids at Meroe, Sudan, 1985.
Eliot Elisofon Field collection
30000 Slides (photographs) (color)
80,000 Photographic prints (b&w, 25 x 20 cm. or smaller.)
This collection is comprised of photographic and manuscript materials, primarily created by Eliot Elisofon to document his travels and work. The images portray many aspects of African life and culture including agriculture, wildlife, archaeology, architecture, art and artisans, children, cityscapes and landscapes, leaders, markets, medicine, recreation, ritual and celebration, and transportation. The manuscript materials include correspondence, essays, clippings, puobligations, notes, research, and itineraries.
Digital Content Available
Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection
circa 5000 Photographic prints (silver gelatin, black and white, 8 x 10 inches or smaller)
circa 20 Linear feet (Manuscript Materials)
5.4 Linear feet (Office Files)
The collection dates from 1900 to 1997 and mostly includes images taken in South Africa. The images document the peoples of South Africa, particularly the Loved, Ndebele, San, Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu peoples. Locations photographed include Basutoland (now Lesotho), Bechuanaland (now Botswana), Johannesburg, Natal, Pretoria, Soweto, Swaziland, Transkei, Transvaal, the Umzimkulu Valley and Zululand. Manuscript and office files include clippings, correspondence, exhibition announcements, invitations and reviews, notes, essays, receipts, and other materials that document Larrabee's career, family history, and personal life.
Digital Content Available
Marli Shamir collection
1790 Negatives (photographic) (black and white, 120mm)
1,519 Color slides (35mm)
Collection dates from 1966 to 1976 and includes 1,817 black and white negatives, 1,519 35mm color slides, several hundred prints, and manuscript materials. Locations include Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Israel, Mali, and Niger and depict agriculture, architecture, especially mosques, landscapes, marketplaces, masquerade and musical performances, sculptures, and textiles. Peoples depicted include the Bambara, Bella, Bozo, Dogon, Fulani, Gao, Mandingo, San, Songhai, and Tuarag peoples.
Digital Content Available
M. Marvin Breckinridge Patterson Collection
bulk 1932
3 Photographs ((1 folder), color)
7 Manuscripts (document genre) ((4 folders), publications)
47 Contact sheets ((0.2 cubic feet), black and white)
The collection measures 0.65 cubic feet, dates from 1932 - circa 1970s, and is primarily comprised of photographs taken by M. Marvin Breckinridge Patterson during her trip with Olivia Stokes Hatch from Capetown, South Africa, to Cairo, Egypt in 1932. The photographs document the peoples of Africa in Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, Tanganyika (now Tanzania), Uganda, Congo (Democratic Republic) and Zanzibar, including the Baila, San, Shona, Xhosa and Zulu peoples. There are also some publications and contact sheets in the collection.
Digital Content Available
Ryan Holden Singer photographs
Photographs by Ryan Holden Singer, a photographer who visited Nambia in 2002.
