An Early Album of the World: Photographs 1842-1896

Daguerreotypes, prints, albums and more from the birth of photography

This publication offers a global vision of the practice of photography in the first decades of the medium, highlighting the key elements and chronological boundaries of the appropriation of photography outside of Europe. The publication also presents the work of local photographers and studios, in showing certain “original images” made in a particular region, while also outlining the role played by governments in the development and appropriation of this medium on a local scale. This publication gives prominence to the works, coming mainly from the Musée du Quai Branly collection, and also the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the Musée Guimet. The quality of the approximate 100 reproductions reveals the diversity of photographic objects presented in the exhibition (daguerreotypes, prints, albums, negatives). It also includes bibliographic entries of the photographers represented in the exhibition, entries for works of the exhibition, and a geo-historical chronology.