Photography in Madagascar 1853-1865 (William Ellis)

[Indriindri]

The British Magazine History of Photography has devoted its Spring 1997
issue to "Anthropology and Colonial Endeavour". This issue includes a
remarkable article of interest to all those interested in Malagasy
history. As you know Ellis was an early English missionary. His writings
are very interesting and I wish they could be reprinted. What I did not
know is that Ellis was also an accomplished photographer.

"The discovery and recent exhibition of an important body of early
photographic work by (the London Missionary Society) William Ellis has
provided an unvaluable addition to our knowledge of the development of
photography...in the 1850s and 1860s. It also reveals a wealth of
information about Madagascar and the Malagasy..."

The photographic work of Ellis will be exhibited in New York at the
(American) Museum of Natural History in the Fall of 1997. At least let's
hope so. It was exhibited earlier in London and Antananarivo. Therefore
Rev. Ellis and his photographs may already be known to some the members of
this NG.

Babakoto

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