Le miroir du Congo belge [Two volumes]

Two volumes with French text, some illustrations and numerous B&W photographs. The photographs are mainly scenic views (landscapes, villages, missionaries) and portraits. The second volume also has a section on "l'Art africain" and African fauna and flora.

"Strikingly, the photographs focus mainly on the Congolese peoples, their traditional ways of life and external characteristics - body decoration, (lack of) clothing, hairstyles and so on - and not on economic developments. [...] The photographs, presented in all possible formats, seem to suggest that time has stood still in the Congo and the Belgian colonisation is necessary." (BERGHMANS, T. (2019). Photobook Belge 1854-Now. Antwerp: FOMU. p111