The collection contains 2136 color 35mm slides and 829 color 35mm negatives taken by Robert Pringle, former Ambassador to Mali, between 1980-1989. The images were taken in Mali, Burkina Faso and Kenya, and depict masquerades, vernacular architecture (including Dogon doors and granaries), mosques, marketplace scenes, pottery, masks (including plank and leaf masks), weaving, art in situ, animals and landscapes. Culture groups represented in the collection include the Tuareg, Lobi, Maasai, Mossi, Dogon, Fula and Bobo (Bwa) peoples. Ambassador Pringle traveled with photographer Christopher Roy and some of Pringle's images depict Roy at work with his own camera.

This collection is comprised of photographs collected by William W. Brill to document his personal collection of African art objects, which primarily contains masks, sculpted figures, and tools.

The collection consists of one postcard and 67 photographs documenting the installation for and art objects in the exhibition "African Art from Nigeria and the Ivory Coast" (April 6-25, 1983), held at the Sarah Lawrence College Art Galley, and curated by Barbara Jarocki. The postcard is an invitation to the opening reception.

Photograph by Major John Noble White of a mask worn by the Tetela people, Kasongo village, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1924. The mask pictured in the photograph was received by the National Museum of African Art in 1984 and is assigned the registration number 84-6-6.

Film (DVD format) entitled "African Carving: A Dogon Kanaga Mask" by Thomas Blakely and Eliot Elisofon in collaboration with Robert Gardner. Originally produced in 1974, this color copy was released in 2008 and runs 19 minutes.

Photographs taken by Simon Ottenberg in Southeastern Nigeria within the Afikpo Village Group, at the time a group of 22 Eastern Igbo villages (sometimes considered part of the Cross River Igbo grouping) in southeastern Nigeria, while on a pre-doctoral Social Science Research Grant from December of 1951 through March of 1953 and during field research from September of 1959 to December of 1960. Also included are photographs taken from June of 1960 to December of 1960 of Abakaliki, a town and the administrative center of the northestern Igbo people, north of Afikpo. According to Dr. Ottenberg in his publication about masked Afikpo rituals, "The Afikpo belong to an Igbo subgroup called Ada or Edda (Forde and Jones 1950, pp. 51-56), which includes the Okpaha, Edda, Amaseri, and Unwana village-groups, all of which border on the Afikpo, and the Nkporo and Adaeze, both short distances away" (Masked Rituals of Afikpo, 1975, p. 3).

The photographs document William Fagg's extensive survey work in Nigeria and his trips to Benin, Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zaire. The photographs illustrate African cultures and works of art, especially those of the Yoruba in Nigeria. Nigerian artisans portrayed include a blacksmith in the town of Jebba, a craftsman casting brass at Ijebu-Ode, and a potter at work in Nok. Celebrations and ceremonies documented include the igue oba and itue ceremonies and the festival of leaves in Benin. There are also images of dances of the Bargesh in northern Nigeria and a masked dance at Nok. Architecture documented includes altars and shrines in Benin and in Oyo, Nigeria; a Birom settlement; Brazilian-style houses in Porto Novo, Republic of Benin; an emir's house in Nigeria; a Jarawa village in Nigeria; the mosque in Keffi, Nigeria; and palaces of Yoruba kings. Most of the photographs show sculpture including Benin bronze plaques and hip masks; Esie stone sculpture; Ifa divination boards, drums, and figures; a Kuba ndop (royal statue) in the Kinshasa Museum; Nok terra-cotta and wooden figures; and Tada bronze figures. There also are images of epa (masquerade) masks; gelede (men's society) masks; a head of Olokun (a male Yoruba divinity) from Ibadan, Nigeria; and Yoruba edan ogboni (bronze staffs) and ibeji (twin figures) from Nigeria. Images of objects by identifiable artists include a palace pillar, post and sculpture by Agbonbiofe; a door and epa mask by Areogun; and a house post and lidded bowl by Olowe of Ise.

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.

Photographs taken by Seligman between 1970 and 2004 primarily of West Africa, including Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Dogon, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Swaziland, Kenya, and Morocco. Additionally, there are some images of masquerades in Cote d'Ivoire and Togo, and scenes in Ghana and Great Zimbabwe. Images depict cultural landscapes, masqu...

Photographs of art objects at various museums taken and assembled by Herbert Baker.