Just in time for the exhibition's closing tomorrow, we have A Grand Tour Of Morocco: Henri Chouanard at the Museum of Photography in Marrakech, described by the museum as a photographer "unknown to the public." After considerable digging, I'm forced to agree. Henri Chouanard was French, he lived from 1888 to 1936, and he traveled a lot, camera equipment in tow.Whether he was an amateur (more likely) or a professional, Chouanard was engaged in a project requiring considerably more deliberation than a contemporary tourist armed with a dispoable camera.
It's been awhile since I've featured autochromes here but regular readers know that my interest in early color photography was sparked by visits to the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York ( a repository of autochromes, even though the process was invented in France by the Lumiere Brothers). Because the grains that contained the colors on the negatives "migrated" over time, these is great variability in the quality of the images, although th
ey were taken during a period that extended roughly from 1910 to 1925.
ey were taken during a period that extended roughly from 1910 to 1925. If I can't give much information about the photographer, I can offer some notes on his subjects. The pictures of the Entrance to the Palace of Bahia (in Marrakesh) and that of the interior courtyard look very differently. It would be easy to believe that the entrance had been photographed recently, the colors have remained stable. Not an antique, the Bahia Place was built in the late 19th century and was a modern building when Choua
nard visited.
nard visited.The camel resting on the pontoon bridge (at top) was photographed at Azemmour, or The Olives, an inland river city southwest of Casablanca. Biskra is an oasis in the Algerian Sahara and a popular vacation spot. Look closely and you can see two men climbing the palm tree near the center of the image.
Images: Autochromes by Henri Chouanard are from the collection of the Alinari Archives, Florence, Italy.
2 comments:
These are beautiful images with alluring depth that beckons us right in. Thank you for the book recommendation chez moi. I'll be sure to look for it!
Speculating on how Chouanard managed so much time away from home could be an occupation itself. Perhaps his work took away from home or he may have been well to do. We forget how expensive travel used to be, not that long ago. Chouanard also visited Egypt, Italy, and Switzerland, by his photographic record.
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