Louis Hostalier
1900 (ca)
West Africa (Senegal) Dakar-Native griot with his guitar [Afrique Occidentale (Sénégal) Dakar-Griot indigène avec sa guitare]

Postcard, photomechanical
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Visual Resource Archive, Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Accession Number: VRA.PC.AF.0007
 
Included in the "In and Out of the Studio: Photographic Portraits from West Africa" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (31 August 2015-3 January 2016).
 
Curatorial description (Accessed: 8 October 2015)
This image of a kora player must have been particularly popular, as it can be found in various postcard series and early twentieth-century publications. Although Hostalier is credited as the photographer of this image, the editors of the postcard are identified as the “Metharam Bros. et Cie. Dakar.” While it is difficult to ascertain the identity of these editors, their name suggests they were of Indian descent. This postcard highlights the complex process of image circulation, production, and consumption within the African continent.
 
LL/61680