Co-edition with Louvre Abu Dhabi and Musée du Quai Branly

The catalogue is both a reflection of the exhibition and a publication that acts as a reference, with its assessment of the questions and thinking that arise from the research carried out for this project.

It is not encyclopedic on the subject of the first photography practices in the world, however it provides a certain number of historical and technical elements, which gives an understanding of the geopolitical circumstances in which photography was introduced then practiced in the different geographic areas of the world.

This publication puts forward a global and documented
vision of the practice of photography in the first decades of the medium, highlighting the key elements and chronological boundaries of the appropriation of photography outside of Europe.

The publication also aims to present the work of local photographers and studios, in showing certain “original images” made in a particular region, while also outlining the role played by governments in power in the development and appropriation of
this modern medium on a local scale.

The publication is made up of an essay by the curator introducing the intention of the exhibition and the main lines of thought, two essays by specialists of Asian and Middle Eastern photography, and a translation of Emir Abdelkader selection of texts on photography with commentary.

This publication gives prominence to the works,
coming mainly from the Musée du Quai Branly collection, and also the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and the Musée Guimet.

The quality of the approximate 100 reproductions reveal the diversity of photographic objects presented in the exhibition (daguerreotypes,
prints, albums, negatives).

It also includes bibliographic entries of the
photographers represented in the exhibition, entries for works of the exhibition, and a geo-historical chronology.

Format: 24 cm x 28.5 cm, 192 pages, 94 photographs and reproductions (colored and black & white), English

Published: April 2019

(Also available in French and Arabic)