Eliot Elisofon Field collection
name: label: Photographer
content: Elisofon, Eliot
place: label: Place
content: Africa
label: Place
content: Congo (Democratic Republic)
label: Place
content: Mali
label: Place
content: Ghana
label: Place
content: Côte d'Ivoire
label: Place
content: Benin
label: Place
content: Burkina Faso
label: Place
content: Egypt
label: Place
content: Kenya
label: Place
content: Liberia
label: Place
content: Niger
label: Place
content: Nigeria
label: Place
content: Rwanda
label: Place
content: Senegal
label: Place
content: South Africa
label: Place
content: Sudan
label: Place
content: Tanzania
label: Place
content: Togo
label: Place
content: Uganda
label: Place
content: Zambia
label: Place
content: Zimbabwe
label: Place
content: Central African Republic
topic: label: Topic
content: Body arts
creator: label: Photographer
content: Elisofon, Eliot
setName: label: See more items in
content: Eliot Elisofon Field collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: 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.
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: 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.

Itinerary of Travel in Africa

January 1947 - June 1947 -- Life Assignment "Capetown to Cairo"
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 14000 Negatives (photographic) (b&w, 35mm)
label: Extent
content: 30000 Slides (photographs) (color)
label: Extent
content: 80,000 Photographic prints (b&w, 25 x 20 cm. or smaller.)
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1935-1978
custodhist: label: Custodial History note
content: 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).
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: EEPA.1973-001
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Negatives (photographic)
label: Type
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Type
content: Photographic prints
label: Type
content: Negatives
label: Type
content: Color slides
label: Type
content: Black-and-white negatives
label: Type
content: Black-and-white photographs
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Negatives
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographic prints
label: Genre/Form
content: Color slides
label: Genre/Form
content: Black-and-white negatives
label: Genre/Form
content: Black-and-white photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: 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.