Photographs taken by Eliot Elisofon in Africa and in European and American museums and collections during his extensive travels from 1942 through 1972. African kingdoms and peoples represented include Afo, Anyi, Asante, Atie, Baga, Bamana, Baule, Bembe, Benin, Bobo, Boki, Bozo, Chamba, Chokwe, Dan, Dinka, Dogon, Ebrie, Efik, Ejagham, Hausa, Ibibio, Idoma, Ife, Igbo-Ukwu, Ijo, Jenne, Jukun, Kamba, Kissi, Kom, Kongo, Kono, kota, Kpelle, Kuba, Kuyu, Kwele, Lega, Lobi, Loma, Lozi, Luba, Lulua, Lunda, Mambila, Mende, Mossi, Nalu, Ndebele, Ngbaka, Ngoni, Nok, Nupe, Nyamwezi, Pende, Suku, Susu, Tabwa, Teke, Temne, Tetela, Tiv, Tuareg, Urhobo, Vai, Woyo, Yaka, Yoruba, and Zande.
Arrangement note:
Images indexed by negative number.
Biographical/Historical note:
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 privately owned 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.
General note:
Title is provided by EEPA staff based on photographer's notes.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Genre/Form:
Photographic prints
Black-and-white photographs
Identifier:
EEPA.1973-002
Archival Repository:
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
