Conakry - la Perle de l'A.O.F.

Large photo album containing 87 total silver-gelatin photographs in various formats and sizes, including 8 1/2 x 7 inches rectangular photos and round photos with an approximately 6-inch diameter. Album size folio (11 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches). Post-bound album with covers bound Japanese-style in patterned abstract floral fabric, with title stamped to cover. Album covers with wear along edges, soiling, and staining, some splitting to cloth along spine, images themselves in overall bright and excellent condition. Some mountings have been professionally rebound, photographs separated by original spiderweb-pattern tissue paper leaves, many with some shattering and foxing. Overall an excellent example. Conakry, Guinea: n.p., circa 1910-1915. Conakry is the capital city of the African country of Guinea, formerly known as French Guinea. Conakry is a port city and was founded after Britain ceded the small Tombo Island to France in 1887. It became the capital of French Guinea in 1904 and prospered as a port city, especially after a railway opened and connected the coastal city to the interior of the country. As the city grew, it also expanded up the neighboring Kaloum Peninsula.

This fascinating photograph album contains over 80 original photographs depicting daily life in and around the city of Conakry. The images include street scenes showcasing the city's colonial architecture including the Public Works and Mines building, the Chargeurs Reunis building, the Hopital Ballay, and the Grand Hotel; the railway; parks, fountains, and statues; Guinean landscapes and waterfalls; churches; the port with boats and ships; a lighthouse; rickshaws; scenes of prayer; portraits of native peoples; and village huts.

Not much is known about the photographer, A. Deschacht. Our research found that he was an early European photographer, based in Conakry, who took very intimate and intentional portraits of Guinean women.

A beautiful collection of photographs from colonial French Guinea at a time of extreme growth and development in the African nation. Very scarce; as of December 2024, our research turns up only two holdings worldwide of this or a very similar photo album, at Harvard and UC Santa Barbara.