Pierre Loos

The above is a detail I took of one of the photos in this book. Wasn't she beautiful?

This all too brief book of photos is the restored collection of the glass-plate photos taken by Doctor Émile Muller during his time in the Belgian Congo, 1923 to 1938. (My mind always boggles when I think about how recently the colonial age ended.) They were restored and reprinted by Mr. Loos at the request of the doctor's daughter, Denise. After the brief introduction and a caption list, there is no text, only the photos. I always find photos from glass plate more wonderful than almost any other, but Dr. Muller also had an amazing eye, capturing many moments both exotic and everyday, always with a beautiful focus on humanity.

The introduction says that Dr. Muller never spoke of his time in the Congo, 'like it was a secret wound.' The Belgian occupation of the Congo was a brutal, ugly time, so I can imagine that it was rather like a secret wound to a doctor who clearly loved his patients and their families, judging by these photos.

I normally zip my library books right back when I have read them, but this is not due for a while yet and I will be paging through it several more times before I take it back. It is gorgeous and I only wish there were more. Highly recommended. Huge thanks to Petra X for bringing this book to my attention. I will definitely be reading Pierre Loos' other African photo collection, [b:Zagourski: Africa Lost|1094614|Zagourski Africa Lost|Pierre Loos|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312064401s/1094614.jpg|1081435].… (meer)