Skip to main content

Search

My Visit
Donate
Home Smithsonian Institution

Site Navigation

  • Visit
    • Museums and Zoo
    • Entry and Guidelines
    • Maps and Brochures
    • Dine and Shop
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Group Visits
      • Group Sales
  • What's On
    • Exhibitions
      • Current
      • Upcoming
      • Past
    • Online Events
    • All Events
    • IMAX & Planetarium
  • Explore
    • - Art & Design
    • - History & Culture
    • - Science & Nature
    • Collections
      • Open Access
    • Research Resources
      • Libraries
      • Archives
        • Smithsonian Institution Archives
        • Air and Space Museum
        • Anacostia Community Museum
        • American Art Museum
        • Archives of American Art
        • Archives of American Gardens
        • American History Museum
        • American Indian Museum
        • Asian Art Museum Archives
        • Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, African Art
        • Hirshhorn Archive
        • National Anthropological Archives
        • National Portrait Gallery
        • Ralph Rinzler Archives, Folklife
        • Libraries' Special Collections
    • Podcasts
    • Stories
  • Learn
    • For Caregivers
    • For Educators
      • Art & Design Resources
      • Science & Nature Resources
      • Social Studies & Civics Resources
      • Professional Development
      • Events for Educators
      • Field Trips
    • For Students
    • For Academics
    • For Lifelong Learners
  • Support Us
    • Become a Member
    • Renew Membership
    • Make a Gift
    • Volunteer
      • Smithsonian Call Center
      • Ambassador Program
      • Museum Information Desk
      • Docent Programs
      • Behind-the-Scenes
      • Digital Volunteers
      • Participatory Science
  • About
    • Our Organization
      • Board of Regents
        • Members
        • Committees
        • Reading Room
        • Bylaws, Policies and Procedures
        • Schedules and Agendas
        • Meeting Minutes
        • Actions
        • Webcasts
        • Contact
      • Museums and Zoo
      • Research Centers
      • Cultural Centers
      • Education Centers
      • General Counsel
        • Legal History
        • Internships
        • Records Requests
          • Reading Room
        • Tort Claim
        • Subpoenas & Testimonies
        • Events
      • Office of Human Resources
        • Employee Benefits
        • How to Apply
        • Job Opportunities
        • Job Seekers with Disabilities
        • Frequently Asked Questions
        • SI Civil Program
        • Contact Us
      • EEO & Small Business
        • EEO Complaint Process
        • Individuals with Disabilities
        • Small Business Program
          • Doing Business with Us
          • Contracting Opportunities
          • Additional Resources
        • Special Emphasis Program
      • Sponsored Projects
        • Policies
          • Combating Trafficking in Persons
          • Animal Care and Use
          • Human Research
        • Reports
        • Internships
    • Our Leadership
    • Reports and Plans
      • Annual Reports
      • Metrics Dashboard
        • Dashboard Home
        • Virtual Smithsonian
        • Public Engagement
        • National Collections
        • Research
        • People & Operations
      • Strategic Plan
    • Newsdesk
      • News Releases
      • Media Contacts
      • Photos and Video
      • Media Kits
      • Fact Sheets
      • Visitor Stats
      • Secretary and Admin Bios
      • Filming Requests

Eliot Elisofon Field collection

National Museum of African Art

Object Details

Photographer
Elisofon, Eliot
Place
Africa
Congo (Democratic Republic)
Mali
Ghana
Côte d'Ivoire
Benin
Burkina Faso
Egypt
Kenya
Liberia
Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
Senegal
South Africa
Sudan
Tanzania
Togo
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Central African Republic
Topic
Body arts
Photographer
Elisofon, Eliot
See more items in
Eliot Elisofon Field collection
Summary
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.
Biographical/Historical note
A photographer best known for his work in Life magazine. Elisofon worked as a free-lance magazine photographer from 1933 to 1937, as a staff photographer for Life from 1933 to 1937 and on photographic assignments for various magazines, including the Smithsonian magazine, from 1942 to 1945. Elisofon traveled extensively in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America documenting the peoples of these lands as well as their arts and environments. A founding member and curatorial associate of the private Museum of African Art, which in 1981 became the National Museum of African Art (NMAfA), Elisofon bequeathed his collection of African photographs to the museum when he died in 1973. To honor Elisofon's contribution to the understanding of African art and culture, NMAfA named its archives after him.
Extent
14000 Negatives (photographic) (b&w, 35mm)
30000 Slides (photographs) (color)
80,000 Photographic prints (b&w, 25 x 20 cm. or smaller.)
Date
circa 1935-1978
Custodial History note
Photographs from this collection appeared in Life magazine and in the following publications; Color Photography by Eliot Elisofon (London: Thames & Hudson, 1962), The Nile by Eliot Elisofon (New York: Viking Press, 1964), Zaire: A Week in Joseph's World by Eliot Elisofon ((New York: Crowell-Collier Press, 1973), Africa by Eliot Elisofon edited by Tom Maloney (New York: U.S. Camera Annual, 1953-54) and Memorable Life Photographs by Edward Steichen (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1951).
Archival Repository
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
Identifier
EEPA.1973-001
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Negatives (photographic)
Slides (photographs)
Photographic prints
Negatives
Color slides
Black-and-white negatives
Black-and-white photographs
Citation
Eliot Elisofon Field Collection, EEPA 1973-001, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution
Rights
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Genre/Form
Negatives
Photographic prints
Color slides
Black-and-white negatives
Black-and-white photographs
Scope and Contents
This collection is comprised of circa 14,000 negatives, 30, 0000 slides, 8,000 photographic prints, and 14 boxes of manuscript materials that date from circa 1945-1978. The photographs document Eliot Elisofon's travels and work in Africa. 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. Artisans shown include an Asante weaver making kente cloth in Ghana; a Dogon carver in Mali making a kanaga mask; an Ebrie goldsmith in Cote d'Ivoire; Hausa dyers in Kano, Nigeria; and Nupe beadmakers in Nigeria; as well as artists at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Kinshasa, Congo. Portraits of leaders include the Asante court at Kumase in Ghana; Ebrie chiefs and notables in Cote d'Ivoire; the timi (king) of Ede, a Yourba town, Nigeria; the emir of Katsina, Nigeria; and the Kuba king and his court in the Congo. There are informal portraits showing children of the Kuba royal court dancing, Fulbe women with gold earrings in Mali, Mangbetu women in the Congo, and Maasai elders in Kenya. Masked dances documented include a Dogon dama festival celebration in Mali, an Igbo festival in Nigeria, and Kuba and Pende masked dancers in the Congo. There are also images of Yoruba gelede (men's association) masks in Nigeria. Non-masked dancers shown include Dan professional acrobatic dancers in Cote d'Ivoire, Irigwe dancers in Nigeria, Mangbetu dancers in the Congo, Mbuti dancers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Wodaabe men dancing in Nigeria. Events shown include Hausa riders in chain mail during the Independence Day celebration in Katsina, Nigeria. Images of art in situ include ancestral altars in the King of Benin's palace in Nigeria; Dogon rock paintings in Mali; and Yoruba Shango shrine sculptures in the palace courtyard of timi (king) of Ede in Nigeria. Landscapes include views of mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Animals shown include birds, buffalos, elephants and giraffes. Traditional architecture shown includes Asante shrine houses with raised wall decorations in Ghana, Dogon villages in Mali and mosques in Mopti. The manuscript materials include correspondence, essays, clippings, puobligations, notes, research, and itineraries.
Restrictions
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1536870822481-1536871012384-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo763575c19-5f10-470a-af8b-75ebd1c82664

In the Collection

Pages

  • « first
  • ‹ previous
  • …
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • …
  • next ›
  • last »
  • Bean fields, wheat, straw, and thorn trees at edge of Nile River, near Khartoum, Sudan

  • Worshippers at the Friday Masallacin Bello mosque, Sokoto, Nigeria

  • Latifu Awoyale in conversation with a guest, Ibadan, Nigeria

  • View of the town and its mosque, Hugna, Egypt

  • Market on the Niger River bank, Goundam, Mali

  • Congolese women trading vegetables and plantains at the market, Bunia, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Joint canoeing to the fish-traps in the cataracts, near Kisangani, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Paratrooper using round parachute at parachute troops training camp, CIPA, near Kinshasa, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Nurse lectures mothers on infant feeding in an Infant Welfare and School clinic in the Oko-Awo area of Lagos Island, Lagos, Nigeria

  • Female workers at Farmitalia Carlo Erba pharmaceutical company, Kinshasa, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Enya fishermen on fish-trap constructions in the cataracts, near Kisangani, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Appliqué workers, in street, Abomey, Benin

  • Sarkin Musulmi alhaji Sir Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, on his way to Friday Masallacin Bello mosque, Sokoto, Nigeria

  • Rites built around a door-shield (keibi), part of the lutumbo lwa kindi initiations, Kabila village, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Statuary fragments at the Horus temple, Idfū, Egypt

  • Mbuti bow-hunters with dog, Epulu, Ituri Forest, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Dan acrobatic dancers, Man region, Ivory Coast

  • New modern building used by the firm of chartered architects, godwin and Hopwood, Lagos, Nigeria

  • Men accompanying Ge Gblin stilt-dancer mask, Man region, Ivory Coast

  • Detail of burial chamber's wall decoration, in the tomb of Rameses VI, Valley of the Kings, Necropolis of Thebes, Egypt

  • Mangbetu wood carver and blacksmith, Medje village, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Open pit copper mine, Kolwezi, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Women selling peppers at Basoko market, near Mbandaka, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Kyaman goldsmith, Anna village, Ivory Coast

  • Lulua woman burnishing pottery before firing, Bakwa Balaie village, near Kananga, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Irigwe dancers of Miango village, Jos Plateau, Nigeria

  • Remains of the granite doorway of Alexander IV for Khnum on Elephantine Island, near Aswan, Egypt

  • Joint canoeing to the fish-traps in the cataracts, near Kisangani, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Lega women carrying firewood, near Shabunda, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Carved low relief in tomb of Idut. Ṣaqqārah, Egypt

  • Children on a swing. Nile Delta region, Egypt

  • Eliot Elisofon photographing Mbuti child, Epulu, Ituri Forest, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Women selling manioc tubers and vegetables at the market, Bunia, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Woman holding two firearms on her side, Kisangani, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Mangbetu musicians, Medje village, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • The river market, Mopti, Mali

  • Rural dwelling among the Kuba people, Bungamba village, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Presidential gardens, Kinshasa, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • The royal boat-shaped pits at the pyramid of Unas. Ṣaqqārah, Egypt

  • Ceiling decorations at the Hathor temple. Dendera, Egypt

  • Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Woman carrying jars on their heads, Egypt

  • Domestic scenes among the Kuba people, Mushenge, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Children in the open public space (mulungu) of the village, Shabunda, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Ceremonial sword, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Aerial view of downtown Johannesburg, South Africa

  • Ejagham Ekpe society leopard dancers, Big Qua Town, Nigeria

  • Lovanium University, Kinshasa, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Yoruba weaver, Nigeria

  • Mangbetu wood carver, Medje village, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Kuba elders and warriors performing during the state visit of the Nyim (ruler) Kot a Mbweeky III, Bungamba village, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Rites built around a door-shield (keibi), part of the lutumbo lwa kindi initiations, Kabila village, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Decoration on the pylon of Ptolemy XII of the Horus temple, Idfū, Egypt

  • Ancient Nilometer on Elephantine Island. Near Aswan, Egypt

  • A look at the Niger River from within the city, Goundam, Mali

  • Ship "Onitsha" waiting to be loaded at African Timber & Plywood Limited plant on the Ethiope River, Sapele, Nigeria

  • Lega woman with facial scarification and elaborate hairstyle, Kabila village, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Excavated house wall, ruins of the walled city of Gedi, south of Malindi, Kenya

  • Modern street scenes, Benin City, Nigeria

  • The pyramids of Giza, close to the cultivation, near the Giza Plateau, Egypt

  • Alexandra Ragtime Boys performing in the street, Johannesburg, South Africa

  • Mangbetu court music, Medje village, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Hausa girls with painted faces, Zaranda market, east of Jos, Nigeria

  • Ship repair and maintenance services at riverport facilities, Kinshasa, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Plantation near Lake Nzilo, northeast of Kolwezi, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Modern nilometer on Rawdah Island. Cairo, Egypt

  • Kuba elders dressed for the state visit of the Nyim (ruler) Kot a Mbweeky III, Bungamba village, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Hippopotamus on Kibirizi plains, Virunga National Park, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Samuel, the blacksmith's son, Ogol du Haut village, Mali

  • Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Premier of Eastern Region, at N.C.N.C. rally. Urualla, Nigeria

  • Irigwe dancers of Miango village, Jos Plateau, Nigeria

  • Popular paintings and decorative art objects for sale, on the streets of Kinshasa, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • The making of dugout canoe, near Mbandaka, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Lion cubs. Virunga National Park, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Tahrir Square. Cairo, Egypt

  • Acrobatic dancers at Tiebleke performance. Bin village, Mali

  • Local movie theater at the margins of the city, Ibadan, Nigeria

  • Yoruba woman with hair wrapped in black thread, Ife, Nigeria

  • Worker pours latex into a bucket at a rubber plantation, near Sapele, Nigeria

  • Polychrome low relief in tomb of Ramose. Necropolis of Thebes, Egypt

  • A female lion with cubs. Virunga National Park, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Bushole Village, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Dwellings among the Mbuti people. Epulu, Ituri Forest, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Spotted Hyena, a solitary hunter, Virunga National Park, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Two male lions near Rutshuru River, Virunga National Park, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Woman pounding grain, Tombouctou region, Mali

  • Horse drawn plow, near Dakar, Senegal

  • Masked performer wearing vertical Chi wara headdress, Bougouni village, Mali

  • Colonel Kakudji, Bukavu, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Garamba Natl. Park, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Wrestlers coming to grips with one another, near Kisangani, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Funeral rites among the Dogon people, Sanga, Mali

  • Exotic crops in the Upper Afro-montane forest belt, the Virunga Mountains, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • The Emir of Kano's herald on camel at the airport, Kano, Nigeria

  • Cutting a tree, near Kumasi, Ghana

  • Bamana weaver at his horizontal loom, Senou village, Mali

  • Joseph Mokobi, Albert, Lake, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Abandonned European-style houses, near Beni, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • A female lion with cubs. Virunga National Park, Congo (Democratic Republic)

  • Students at May Day celebration, Kinshasa, Congo (Democratic Republic)

Pages

  • « first
  • ‹ previous
  • …
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • …
  • next ›
  • last »
Woman dancing at the royal palace, Abomey, Benin
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer
View Finding aid

Footer logo

Link to homepage

Footer navigation

  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Get Involved
  • Inspector General
  • Records Requests
  • Accessibility
  • EEO & Small Business
  • Shop Online
  • Host Your Event
  • Press Room
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use

Social media links

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Get the latest news from the Smithsonian

Sign up for Smithsonian e-news

Get the latest news from the Smithsonian

Email powered by BlackBaud (Privacy Policy, Terms of Use)
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Back to Top