Moonlight view, with lighthouse, Algiers, Algeria [ca. 1899].A very good friend of mine, Hicham Yezza, recently discovered a beautiful collection of photos of his home country of Algeria from 1899.
I asked Hich for his thoughts on the photographs:
“The photos evoke quite mixed feelings in me. They are exquisite portraits of a bygone era. They are also a record of colonial conquest and domination, of how a land was transformed by the arrival of a European power. Above all, they are a remarkable record of a beautiful landscape, most of which has been lost in the century since, to wars, to capitalism, to modernity.”
One day I would love to visit these places, to see them for myself, and to see how they have changed.
The cemetery, with chapel, Algiers, Algeria [ca. 1899].Cathedral, Algiers, Algeria [ca. 1899].Street of the camels, Algiers, Algeria [ca. 1899].Group of Arabs, Algiers, Algeria [ca. 1899]Moorish coffee house, Algiers, Algeria [ca 1899].Government place, Algiers, Algeria [ca. 1899].Moorish woman and child on the terrace, II, Algiers, Algeria [ca. 1899].Market, Biskra, Algeria [ca. 1899].Luce Ben Aben, School of Arab Embroidery, Algiers, Algeria [ca. 1899].Museum: entrance hall, II, Algiers, Algeria [ca. 1999].Merchants of eatables, Bona, Algeria [ca. 1899].Luce Ben Aben, Moorish women preparing couscous, Algiers, Algeria [ca. 1899].Distinguished Moorish women, Algiers, Algeria [ca. 1899].Harbor by moonlight, II, Algiers, Algeria [ca. 1899].View the full collection here.