The collection contains 2136 color 35mm slides and 829 color 35mm negatives taken by Robert Pringle, former Ambassador to Mali, between 1980-1989. The images were taken in Mali, Burkina Faso and Kenya, and depict masquerades, vernacular architecture (including Dogon doors and granaries), mosques, marketplace scenes, pottery, masks (including plank and leaf masks), weaving, art in situ, animals and landscapes. Culture groups represented in the collection include the Tuareg, Lobi, Maasai, Mossi, Dogon, Fula and Bobo (Bwa) peoples. Ambassador Pringle traveled with photographer Christopher Roy and some of Pringle's images depict Roy at work with his own camera.
Arrangement note:
Arranged geographically by country and chronologically therein. Arrangement reflects the original order established by the photographer.
Biographical/Historical note:
Robert Pringle is a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer and historian specializing in interethnic relations, economic development, and the role of culture. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Mali from 1987 to 1990. His other official postings included Indonesia, the Philippines, Burkina Faso, Papua New Guinea, and South Africa. He has written three books on Southeast Asian history and politics, of which the most recent is A Short History of Bali: Indonesia's Hindu Realm (2004).
General note:
Title provided by EEPA staff.
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.
Photographs made by William F. Wheeler during his expeditions to Africa in July 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1998, mostly documenting the Efe of Akokora in the Ituri forest. Photographs relating to the Efe people of Akokora in the Ituri forest include images of Efe people, camps, musical instruments, dances, archery and poison arrows, hunting, barkcloth making and use, body marking, food, animals and plants of the rainforest, forest treks, villages (including Anduli, Dui, and Akokora). Other photographs include images of ceremonies (including an Olngesherr ceremony in the Loita Hills), Mbuti at Epulu, a Masai village in Kenya, William Wheeler's wedding to Linda Penn in a Masai village (1987), Berber nomads and scenic views in Algeria, markets and Tuaregs during a camel trip through Niger, and aerial views.
Biographical/Historical note:
William F. Wheeler (1943-2008) was born in Blackville, South Carolina, and earned a medical degree from Duke University and a specialty degree in anesthesiology at Massachusetts General in Boston. In 1978, after years of practicing medicine, he began traveling Africa by car, making over twenty-four trips during the next three decades. To gain a more intimate experience, he returned to explore the most remote places on foot. His detailed safari journals, written in the style of 19th century explorers, describe camel journeys in the Sahara, foot safaris with Maasai in Kenya and Tanzania, and hundreds of miles of treks with Efe through the rainforest of the Ituri river basin, a tributary of the Congo River. Wheeler's collection of artifacts and photographs formed the basis of a 2004 exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Man.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 2005-19, NAA ACC 2010-21
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Photographs previously filed in Photo Lot 2005-19 have been relocated and merged with Photo Lot 2010-21. These photographs were also made by William F. Wheeler in Africa and form part of this collection.
The National Anthropological Archives also holds the William F. Wheeler Efe Pgymy Papers, 1999-2004 (MS 2005-14).
Artifacts collected by Wheeler held in the Department of Anthropology collections in accessions 2036145, 2034089, and 2033754.
