François-Edmond Fortier (2 September 1862 – 8 February 1928) was a French photographer, publisher of postcards and visual

ethnographer Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

. In his more than 3300 images and

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. In some places, one can send a postcard f ...

s of

French West Africa French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...

(Afrique Occidentale Française), he documented landscapes, African and colonial buildings, the urban developments in Dakar, everyday life in the countryside, as well as political and economic leaders. His postcards encompass both

ethnographic Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

documentation and staged portraiture, some of which with eroticized depictions of indigenous women. His photographs and reprints of his work have since been reproduced as documents of

visual culture Visual culture is the aspect of culture expressed in visual images. Many academic fields study this subject, including cultural studies, art history, critical theory, philosophy, media studies, Deaf Studies, and anthropology. The field of vi ...

of life in French West Africa. Prints of Fortier's historical photographs have been collected as examples of early 20th-century photography in Africa by the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, the Museum of Fine Art, Boston,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, as well as by collections in France.

Biography

Fortier was born in the small village of Plaine, in the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...

region of France in 1862. His parents were farmers on land with scarce harvests. In July 1883, Fortier moved to Paris, where he worked as an accountant for a wholesale company in the textiles business. He got married in 1884 to a woman of Alsatian background, and they had their first daughter the following year. Having arrived in Senegal some time after 1888 in his late 20s, Fortier first worked in Saint-Louis, the capital of French West Africa at the time. After 1 December 1898, Fortier is known as photographer at the Saint-Louis studio of Émile Noal, the local correspondent for the Paris-based weekly '' Le Monde illustré''. Next to fellow photographer Louis Hostalier, who worked for the Paris weekly ''A travers le Monde'', Noal had established himself as successful photographer in the French colony. In 1900, Fortier moved to

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, which became the new capital as of 1902. From 1902 to 1903, he explored

Fouta-Djalon Fouta Djallon (, , ; ) is a Highland (geography), highland region in the center of Guinea, roughly corresponding with Middle Guinea, in West Africa. Etymology The Fulani people call the region Fouta Jallon Kingdom, Fuuta-Jaloo ( ) in the Pular l ...

, then Haute-Guinée, and from 1905–1906 he travelled in the former

French Sudan French Sudan (; ') was a French colonial territory in the Federation of French West Africa from around 1880 until 1959, when it joined the Mali Federation, and then in 1960, when it became the independent state of Mali. The colony was formall ...

(present-day Mali), staying in

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

Djenné Djenné (; also known as Djénné, Jenné, and Jenne) is a Songhai people, Songhai town and Communes of Mali, urban commune in the Inland Niger Delta region of central Mali. The town is the administrative centre of the Djenné Cercle, one of the ...

and the military territory of Tombouctou, where he photographed

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym, depending on variety: ''Imuhaɣ'', ''Imušaɣ'', ''Imašeɣăn'' or ''Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, who principally inhabit th ...

horsemen who had been fighting the French. In 1906, he published 500 postcards based on these journeys as ''Collection Générale.'' These images show

Conakry Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973. The current population of C ...

Kankan Kankan ( Mandingo: Kánkàn; N’ko: ߞߊ߲ߞߊ߲߫) is the largest city in Guinea in land area, and the third largest in population, with a population of 198,013 people as of 2020. The city is located in eastern Guinea about east of the ...

and

Kindia Kindia ( N’ko: ߞߌ߲ߘߌߦߊ߫) is the fourth largest city in Guinea, located about northeast of the nation's capital, Conakry. Its estimated population in 2008 was 181,126. Kindia serves as the capital and largest city of Kindia Prefecture ...

and the

Bandiagara escarpment The Bandiagara Escarpment (, ) is a sandstone cliff in the Dogon country of Mali. It rises about above the lower sandy flats to the south, and has a length of approximately . The area of the escarpment is inhabited today by the Dogon people. ...

. Activities covered include French tax collecting and railway construction, the daily lives of riverside dwellers and townspeople, fishing and

pirogues A pirogue ( or ), also called a piragua or piraga, is any of various small boats, particularly dugouts and canoes. The word is French and is derived from Spanish ''piragua'' , which comes from the Carib '. Description The term 'pirogue' do ...

, the production of

karité ''Vitellaria paradoxa'' (formerly ''Butyrospermum parkii''), commonly known as shea tree, shi tree (, also ), or vitellaria, is a tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Vitellaria'', Fortier_-_1065_-_Femme_Oulof

This was followed by further journeys in 1908 and 1909 to

French Dahomey French Dahomey, officially the Colony of Dahomey and Dependencies (), was a French colony and part of French West Africa from 1894 to 1958. After World War II, by the establishment of the French Fourth Republic in 1947, Dahomey became part of ...

(present-day Benin), where he worked on official assignment alongside colonial authorities, producing images of rulers, ceremonies and daily life. Fortier made his living as a professional photographer and publisher of postcards, creating some 3,300 original images and many re‑editions in the two decades from 1901 to 1920. They are the earliest professional photographs of several places in West Africa, for example of the Dogon country and Tombouctu. His images were taken in over 100 locations in colonial regions of today’s Senegal,

Guinea-Conakry Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

, Mali, the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. His postcards encompass both

documentation and staged portraiture, including his series of "Études" with many eroticized depictions of indigenous women. Fortier spent his later years in his shop on the corner of Boulevard Pinet-Laprade/Rue Dagorne in the Médina of Dakar until his death on 28 February 1928.

Reception

Scholarly studies

Fortier's original plates or negatives having been lost, research about his work relies on publications and collections of original prints. From 1986 to 1988, French scholar Phillip David published three volumes of Fortier's comprehensive catalogue documenting his numerous postcards. In 1995, the association Images & Mémoires (I&M) started a project in order to rescue, preserve and study West African photography. With the support of

's World Memory Programme, the association published a CD-ROM with over 3,000 reproductions of postcards depicting West Africa from 1895 to 1930. About 900 of the images in this collection had been published by Fortier. The selection from his legacy notably did not include Fortier's images of nude women. Apart from other scholars, Brazilian historian Daniela Moreau has published several studies of Fortier’s work. One of these covered Fortier's travels to Toumbouctu in 1906,Moreau, Daniela. ''Edmond Fortier - Viagem A Timbuktu Fotografias Da Africa Do Oeste Em 1906''. São Paulo: Literart, 2015, . (in Brazilian Portuguese) and another one his journey to Dahomey from 1908 to 1909. In her 2007 paper, Patricia Hickling discussed the professional relationship between photographer Émile Noal and Fortier. Based on historical evidence and stylistic comparison of several images, she posited that these images had actually been taken and published by Noal and were later published by Fortier under his own name. As the new owners of a photographic studio often kept and republished photographs by the previous photographer, cultural anthropologist Christraud M. Geary also wrote that Fortier had published his earliest postcard series with images by Noal and another French photographer under his own name. Further, Moreau discussed images that Fortier had changed in his later editions, for example by deleting colonial buildings in the background of a picture showing Africans in a small market town. By this deletion of an existing French setting, Moreau said Fortier intended to "exoticise" Africans. One of Fortier's portraits shows the Muslim

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, founder of the

Wassoulou Empire The Samorian state, also referred to as the Wassoulou empire, Ouassalou empire, Mandinka empire or Samory's empire, was a short-lived West African state that existed from roughly 1878 until 1898, although dates vary from source to source. It span ...

and military strategist against French colonial rule

Samory Touré Samori Ture ( – June 2, 1900), also known as Samori Toure, Samory Touré, or Almamy Samore Lafiya Toure, was a Mandinka people, Malinke and a Soninke people, Soninke Muslim cleric, military strategist, and founder of the Wassoulou Empire, an Is ...

after having been captured, holding a

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

in his hands. This photograph has been reproduced various times in books, articles, postal stamps and even record covers, making it an iconic image of African resistance against colonial rule. Another notable African leader portrayed by Fortier was the son of El Hadj Omar, Aguibou Tall. As

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

owned about 40 photographs by Fortier and other images of African women, influences by these photographs on his 1907 painting ''

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (''The Young Ladies of Avignon'', originally titled ''The Brothel of Avignon'') is a large oil painting created in 1907 by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. Part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, it portrays f ...

'' have been proposed. Thus, scholar Janie Cohen posited "a framework for its final composition, specific poses, elements that contributed to his icasso'snascent interest in simultaneous multiple perspectives." As a conclusion of her study of Fortier and his legacy, Moreau wrote in 2018:

Fortier photographs in public collections

The Metropolitan Museum of Art collection includes a

gelatin silver print The gelatin silver print is the most commonly used chemical process in black-and-white photography, and is the fundamental chemical process for modern analog color photography. As such, films and printing papers available for analog photography r ...

, showing a studio portrait of a young African man in traditional dress. Further, the museum owns photomechanical reproductions of postcards titled ''Afrique Occidentale – Danseurs “Miniankas”'' and ''West Africa, young Wolof girls''. Further, the Smithsonian Institution and the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, hold images by Fortier in their collections. The Library of Congress also has photographs by Fortier in their Africana Historic Postcard Collection. In France, the

Musée Picasso Musée Picasso () is an art gallery located in the Hôtel Salé () in rue de Thorigny, in the Marais district of Paris, France, dedicated to the work of the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). The museum collection includes more than ...

has 40 photographs by Fortier from the artist's private collection, and the Centre Edmond Fortier and the Association Images & Mémoires have published his work and a complete catalogue online.

Gallery

File:Fortier 368 Timbuktu Sankore Mosque.jpg, Sankoré Mosque, Tombouctu, c. 1906 File:Féticheurs en costume de cérémonie (AOF).jpg, ''Féticheurs'' in ceremonial costume, hand-coloured File:Fortier Cayor - Femme de griot.jpg, Wife of a West African griot File:Fortier Femme Foulah.jpg, Woman from the

Fula Fula may refer to: *Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe) *Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani) **The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language **The Fula variety known as the Pular language **The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde *Fula alpha ...

ethnic group File:Cayor-Le puits de N'Dande (AOF).jpg, The well of N'Dande, the deepest of

Cayor The Cayor Kingdom (; ) was from 1549 to 1876 the largest and most powerful kingdom that split off from the Jolof Empire in what is now Senegal. The Cayor Kingdom was located in northern and central Senegal, southeast of Waalo, west of the kingdom ...

References

External links

Edmondfortier.org
with information and a complete catalogue online (in French and Brazilian Portuguese)
Association Images & Mémoires (AI&M) and Unesco, Cartes Postales d’Afrique de l’Ouest (1895–1930), Atlas du Patrimoine n. 4 (Paris: Co-production Association Images & mémoire et Editions Mémoires directe, 1997), CD-ROM

with numerous images, articles and further information (in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortier, Francois French photographers French ethnographers 1862 births 1928 deaths Documentary photographers People of French West Africa French portrait photographers