Getting started with the collection:
Portraits of a Young Man from North Africa
A. Cavilla, albumen print, c. 1880
In the 19th century there was a demand for portraits of peoples of the regions travellers visited. Anthropologists and ethnographers used them for study purposes. The photograph at the left is unusual in that the sitter looks at us with such a penetrating gaze. Perhaps the photographer hung these portraits in his shop window in Algiers or Rabat to attract potential customers.
- Object numberRP-F-2016-146-1
- Dimensions201 mm x 153 mm
- Physical characteristicsalbuminedruk