Map of Cameroon

About this project: collaborative Photo History in Cameroon

The recent history of photography in Cameroon

A Preliminary Collaborative Research Project

Background/ Introduction

Over the last fifty years there have been many professional photographers active in various Cameroonian towns and cities. Their photographs may be found in their home towns but also in many places elsewhere, taken by( or sent to) family and friends.

Since many photographers used a studio rubber stamp and dated the prints it is possible to get some information about who was active, where and when simply by copying the BACKS of photos. This has the considerable additional benefit that it can be done without any need to record the front of the photo (the actual photographic image) or the name of the owner so addressing many peoples suspicions/ concerns about confidentiality.

Another way of putting this is that we are trying to compile a list of the names of old Photo Studios in Cameroon from the big studios in the cities to the small itinerant photographers who never actually had a building but went from village to village, from the earliest to more recent times when stamps have been abandoned.  Seeing this as a first step towards establishing the history of photography in Cameroon.

The Task

If people would consent to allow the backs of their photos to be inspected then all we need is for copy photos of the backs of photos with stamps to be submitted (to the blog or by email to David Zeitlyn). (Clearly if the photos have been glued onto album pages this is a non-starter but this is rare in my experience.) If there is no date it would be helpful to know approx when the photo was taken. Many stamps identify the town where the photographer was working but not all. When a locality is not present it would be very helpful to know where it was taken, and finally where is the photo currently located?

NB black and white prints are clearly old but early colour prints were also stamped. Few current photographers seem to use rubber stamps now. The criterion is not b/w vs. colour but whether they are stamped or not. If they are in colour it would be good to be told this.

Summary of the information requested: photo of photographers stamp + approx date if no date stamp + photographers location if not on stamp + current location of print (+ if colour print)

It would be helpful to have several photos from the same studio from different dates – to give a better idea of when the studio was active

A sample is attached: this is one of 5 different stamps used by the same photographer over a period of 30 years.