Petite histoire de la photographie au Maghreb

How did Europeans photograph the Maghreb during the colonial period? And what do these images reveal about their era, about those who produced them and about those they depict?

Between 1850 and 1950, professional and amateur European photographers – whether soldiers, tourists or members of learned societies – produced thousands of images of the Maghreb. Some helped to perpetuate stereotypes such as the ‘Arab horseman’ or the ‘Moorish woman’, whilst others offer a glimpse of more everyday realities and less conventional perspectives.

Divided into three periods, A Brief History of Photography in the Maghreb explores how these images were produced, disseminated and viewed within the context of French colonisation. The training of photographers, economic interests, political propaganda, and artistic and literary legacies: all these factors helped to shape these representations.

Drawing on a selection of photographic archives from heritage collections, the book reveals the diversity of photographic practices and the coexistence of multiple perspectives on the peoples of the Maghreb.