Much has Changed

Between 1932 and 1964 Dutch anthropologist, chemist and explorer traveled through Sub-Saharan Africa extensively. He collected antropological data but, in hindsight definitely more importantly, also shared his experiences in stories told in lectures, radiotalks and books that sold in editions photographers can only dream of these days. This way he defined to some extend the image of Africa the generation of my grandparents had. In the introduction to his second book Julien says that his porter's, the people who carried his stuff on his expeditions, deserve a word of thanks. They have a right to more than just that. It was for Julien not possible, and probably also not high on his priority list, to show them the photographs he made and let them read his stories. I am taking his material back to places he traveled to, show them to local stakeholders and photograph based on their responses and my own observations. This will lead to a visual biography of Julien's Africa travels that will also shed light on the way 'Africa' presents itself, is documented and how its image is build, both for an African and European audience. Use of Julien's photographs (all scans of lanternslides used by him to illustrate lectures) courtesy Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam.