Photograph Collection

The library holdings of the DMG include a collection of travel photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The collection comprises approximately 400 albumen, collodion and silver gelatin prints and consists of landscapes, architectural photographs, portraits, and scenic motifs. The pictures originate from Japan, China, India, Sri Lanka, Middle Asia, as well as Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Sinai and Tunisia. Some of the photographs form thematic series.

Most of the photographs were acquired on-site from local photographers and photo ateliers. These include the photographers W.W. Hooper, W.L.H. Skeen & Co, Scown & Co, A. Michon, V. Kozlovsky, I. Wedensky, D. Jermakov, O. Kazuma, K. Tamamura, Brüder Zangaki, J.P. Sebah, H. Arnoux, and G. Davison. We presume the authorship of a scholar only for the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, and one photograph from Colombo. Further photographs come from the personal bequests of M. Hartmann and August Fischer.

The photographs are mostly mounted on plain, sometimes printed, cardboard. Several prints are faded and yellowed, and the cardboard is brittled and damaged. Other prints, however, are still in very good condition. Indications of their condition can be found in the photograph titles, written in ink, or directly in the captions on prints.

The first step was to inventory the image collection in the form of a photo CD. This was done in connection with preparations for an exhibition at 29th DOT in Halle. All visible data was recorded, the condition of the images was characterized, and image dimensions and techniques were determined. Some photograph titles were supplemented or corrected. Initial research, made possible within the scope of the project, allowed to approximate the dates of certain photographs and identify individual authors. The aim is to further refine the information using specialist knowledge. For this very purpose and together with a request for cooperation, we included the photo CD in the conference materials of participants at the 29th DOT in 2004. We hope in this way to continue collecting relevant information and gain a deeper understanding of the photograph collection.

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