Casimir Ostoja Zagourski (in Polish Kazimierz Zagórski; 9 August 1883 – 10 January 1944) was a Polish pioneering photographer of Central African peoples and customs.
Life
Zagourski was born in
Zhytomyr
Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, a ...
in 1883. He was a Pole, from the noble
Clan of Ostoja
The Clan of Ostoja (old Polish: ''Ostoya'') was a powerful group of knights and lords in late-medieval Europe. The clan encompassed families in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (including present-day Belarus and Ukraine), Hungary and Upper Hu ...
. He served in the
Imperial Russian Air Force
The Imperial Russian Air Service (russian: Императорскій военно-воздушный флотъ, , Emperor's Military Air Fleet) was an air force founded in 1912 for Imperial Russia."''12 августа 1912 года прика ...
until 1917, rising to the rank of colonel, and in the Polish military during 1920.
He emigrated from Europe in 1924 and settled in Léopoldville ( Belgian Congo), gallicizing his name and opening a photographic studio. Between 1924 and his death he travelled widely in Central Africa, undertaking expeditions to photograph "disappearing" native African traditions in 1929, 1932, 1935 and 1937.Christraud M. Geary, In and Out of Focus: Images from Central Africa, 1885-1960 (Smithsonian Institution, 2002), 59-79.
His albums and a postcard series collectively entitled ''L'Afrique qui disparaît!'' gained him considerable renown.
He died in Léopoldville in 1944.
Sources
* Krzysztof Pluskota. "Atelier Photo Cinématographique—C. Zagourski." In Christraud M. Geary, ''In and Out of Focus: Images from Central Africa, 1885-1960.'' London: Philip Wilson, 2002. . pp. 59–68.
* Christraud M. Geary. "The Image World of Casimir Zagourski." In ''In and Out of Focus: Images from Central Africa, 1885-1960.'' London: Philip Wilson, 2002. . pp. 69–79.
* ''Zagourski: Lost Africa.'' Skira, 2001. .
** ''Zagourski: Africa perduta.'' Skira, 2001. .
Ostoja coat of arms
Ostoja ( sr-cyr, Остоја) may refer to:
* Ostoja, Łódź Voivodeship, a village in Poland
* Ostoja, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, a village in Poland
* Clan of Ostoja, a late medieval European clan
* Ostoja coat of arms
* Ostoja, masculin ...
*
Clan of Ostoja
The Clan of Ostoja (old Polish: ''Ostoya'') was a powerful group of knights and lords in late-medieval Europe. The clan encompassed families in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (including present-day Belarus and Ukraine), Hungary and Upper Hu ...