Alex Agbaglo Acolatse

Alex Agbaglo Acolatse
Born	1880 (1880) Kedzi, Slave Coast of West Africa
Died	1975 (aged 94–95) Lomé, Togo
Nationality	Togolese
Occupation(s)	Portrait and documentary photographer
Years active	1900–1970s
Known for	20th-century photography of Togo

Alex Agbaglo Acolatse (1880–1975) was a Togolese photographer and postcard publisher, known for his studio portraits and documentation of colonial-era Togo in the first half of the 20th century. His work has been featured in several specialised publications and exhibitions, including the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Rietberg Museum in Switzerland.

Biography

Acolatse was a Togolese photographer known for his work in early West African studio photography. Born in Kedzi, a coastal town in what is now Ghana's Volta Region, Acolatse was the son of a traditional chief.

In the early 1900s, Acolatse was introduced to photography by Frederick Lutterodt, an itinerant photographer based in the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana). After his training, he established his own studio in Lomé, the capital of Togo. Between 1920 and 1930, he produced a series of postcards depicting people and landmarks along the coastal region between Accra and Lagos, capturing pictures of West African life during the colonial era. Acolatse's studio became a hub for the Lomé upper classes, where he crafted elegant portraits that underlined his subjects' social status through their attire and poses. His studio photographs are noted for their use of painted backdrops and architectural props, creating an impression of realism with theatrical elements. His photograph titled "Self-portrait with Balustrade and Hanging" from the 1910s exemplifies his artistic approach. This and another portrait of two young men in elegant suits with a backdrop suggesting aristocratic interiors show the sitters as members of the Togolese elite.

Beyond his photographic work, Acolatse served as the president of Togo’s Association of Professional Photographers, mentoring aspiring photographers. He retired in 1956, passing on his studio to a family member, and continued to inspire future generations until his death in Lomé in 1975.

Reception

Publications and exhibitions

Several scholarly works, publications about African art and exhibitions have explored the life and contributions of Acolatse to 20th-century photography in Togo:

• A monograph by Philippe David, published in Togo in 1993, titled Alex A. Acolatse: Hommage à l’un des Premiers Photographes Togolais presented an in-depth look at Acolatse's life and work, based on detailed research conducted in Lomé, Togo.
• "Africa by Herself: African Photography from 1840 to the Present". This 1998 exhibition included Acolatse's full-length portraits, emphasizing the cosmopolitan nature of African studio photography and its role in self-representation.
• Acolatse's work was mentioned in the 1999 book Revue Noire: Africa by Africans: a Photographic View, published by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
• In 2015 an exhibition and accompanying publication titled In and Out of the Studio: Photographic Portraits from West Africa was shown by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, featuring two of Acolatse's self-portraits alongside other West African photographers.
• In her 2018 book Postcards from Africa: Photographers of the Colonial Era cultural anthropologist Christraud M. Geary described a picture postcard by Acolatse. This image, taken in the 1920s, shows Lawson, the king of Anécho in French Togo. In this studio portrait, the royal sitter was dressed in expensive clothes before a European backdrop of a painted garden. According to Geary, this staged portrait would "declare his rank and aim at elevating him in the eyes of the locals as well as the French." Geary further noted that Victorian-style elements show that Africans were connected with the outside world of cosmopolitan cities, where "African elites seamlessly appropriated and integrated foreign elements into their own cultural practices."
• Two ealy photographs by Acolatse were included in the 2022 exhibition "The Future is Blinking. Early Studio Photography from West and Central Africa" at the Rietberg Museum in Zurich, Switzerland.

Further, the French specialized publisher Revue Noire has published Acolatse's work along with other notable photographers in several magazines and photo books, noting that "Many artists from Africa are now considered as artists, rather than "African artists".

Acolatse's work in public collections

The Rietberg Museum, Zurich, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art hold several silver prints and glass plates of Acolatse's photographs, presenting his studio work and providing insight into the fashion and social status of Togolese upper class society of the early 20th century.

See also

• Alphonso Lisk-Carew
• Lutterodt photographers
• John Parkes Decker
• Francis W. Joaque
• Neils Walwin Holm
• Augustus Washington
• J. A. Green (photographer)

Further reading

• Foliard, Daniel (2023-01-01). "Photography as Absence: Implicit Histories (Africa, Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries)". Sources. Materials & Fieldwork in African Studies (6 (Photos & Photographers)): 65–84 – via academia.edu.
• Graham-Stewart, Michael; McWhannell, Francis (2020). Broad sunlight. Early West African photography. London, United Kingdom: Michael Graham-Stewart. ISBN 978-1-5272-5150-2.
• Schneider, Jürg (2014-11-20). "Looking into the Past and Present: The origins of photography in Africa". Photography and its Origins. Taylor & Francis. pp. 208–221. doi:10.4324/9781315740096-17. ISBN 978-1-315-74009-6. Archived from the original on 2024-09-14.
• Geary, Christraud M. (2013). "Roots and Routes of African Photographic Practices: From Modern to Vernacular Photography in West and Central Africa (1850–1980)". In Salami, Gitti; Blackmun Visonà, Monica (eds.). A Companion to Modern African Art. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. pp. 74–95. doi:10.1002/9781118515105.fmatter. ISBN 978-1-118-51510-5.
• David, Philippe (1999). "Alex A. Acolatse, Olympio, les frères Aguiar, John Badohu - Lomé Togo". In Saint Léon, Pascal Martin; Fall, N'Goné; Chapuis, Frédérique; Berhanou Abebbé (eds.). Anthology of African and Indian Ocean photography. Paris: Revue Noire. ISBN 978-2-909571-49-2.
• Pinney, Christopher; Peterson, Nicolas, eds. (April 2003). Photography′s Other Histories. doi:10.1215/9780822384717. ISBN 978-0-8223-3113-1.
• Geary, Christraud M. (1991). "Old Pictures, New Approaches: Researching Historical Photographs". African Arts. 24 (4): 36–98. doi:10.2307/3337042. ISSN 0001-9933. JSTOR 3337042.
• David, Philippe (1986). "La carte postale africaine (1900–1960)." Revue juridique et politique, indépendance et coopération 40, no. 1–2, pp. 166–77. (in French)

External links

• Alex Agbaglo Acolatse at Luminous-Lint
• Photographs by Alex A. Acolatse in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Alex A. Acolatse at Togo archives
• Biography of Alex Acolatse on African Photography blog