Askari, Arabs, and Africans of Tanganyika: Colonial Times through the Eyes of German Photographers and Illustrators

Abstract

The article deals with the representation of local population of German East Africa (in regards of its main part which later formed British Tanganyika) on the photographs, book illustrations, and postcards published by German editors and photographers. These images reflect German colonial discourse in relation to specific circumstances of East Africa, where Germany was for centuries preceded by other “foreign colonizers”, namely the Arabs. On the one hand, these images constitute a valuable source for the study of history and ethnography of East Africa, on the other hand, they reflect “visual colonization” of subjugated territory and its hierarchies. We have before us a visual history of the “colonial period” that allows us to better understand this historical era as a distinct segment of the historical process.