Fragile Legacies: The Photographs of Solomon Osagie Alonge
Fragile Legacies showcases the extraordinary photographs of Chief Solomon Osagie Alonge (1911 94), one of Nigeria's premier photographers and the first official photographer to the royal court of the Benin kingdom. Alonge's photographs document a half century of the palace rituals, pageantry, and regalia of the obas (kings), and provide rare insight into the early histories and practices of studio photography in West Africa. S.O. Alonge's photographs also offer a unique perspective on the transformation of Benin City during the early to mid-twentieth century, and its relationship to the visual arts and cultures of the Benin-Edo peoples. AUTHORS: Amy Staples is senior archivist at the National Museum of African Art. Flora S. Kaplan is the Faculty Emerita of Museum Studies at the Graduate School of Arts and Center, NYU. 110 colour illustrations
Author: Amy J. Staples
Format: Hardback, 208 pages, 240mm x 280mm
Published: 2016, D Giles Ltd, United Kingdom
Genre: Photography
Fragile Legacies showcases the extraordinary photographs of Chief Solomon Osagie Alonge (1911 94), one of Nigeria's premier photographers and the first official photographer to the royal court of the Benin kingdom. Alonge's photographs document a half century of the palace rituals, pageantry, and regalia of the obas (kings), and provide rare insight into the early histories and practices of studio photography in West Africa. S.O. Alonge's photographs also offer a unique perspective on the transformation of Benin City during the early to mid-twentieth century, and its relationship to the visual arts and cultures of the Benin-Edo peoples. AUTHORS: Amy Staples is senior archivist at the National Museum of African Art. Flora S. Kaplan is the Faculty Emerita of Museum Studies at the Graduate School of Arts and Center, NYU. 110 colour illustrations