Photographs of Patients in Colonial Cameroon: Humanitarian Need for Aid or Invectivity?

An Analysis of Visual Representations of Pathologized Bodies, Exemplified by Ethnographic Photography

Abstract

In the early 20th century, colonial photography emerged not only as a documentary tool but also as an instrument of visual power, shaping narratives about colonised peoples in Africa. In the context of German colonial rule in Cameroon (1884-1918), photographic representations of the indigenous population, particularly images depicting sick and pathologised bodies, served complex and often conflicting purposes. The article examines individuals from colonial Cameroon, interrogating the underlying intentions and effects of these images. Through a critical image analysis, this study seeks to uncover the ideological frameworks and power structures embedded within these portrayals. The corpus for analysis is drawn from ethnographic collections, including the photographic work of the Austrian ethnographic collectors Rudolf and Helene Oldenburg, the German colonial figure Günter Tessmann, and the lesser-known doctor Felix Mohn, who operated in Cameroon during the colonial period.

The selected photographs depict individuals with visible signs of disease, deformity, or physical suffering, often captured in sided and frontal poses or arranged against neutral backgrounds, as per the conventions of scientific imagery of the time. These images are read alongside their original captions and associated textual annotations providing a layered understanding of their context and intended reception. In conjunction with ‘Invectivity Studies’, which are characterised by cultural and social sciences, ‘disability studies’, and historical image research, the photographs can be assigned to the category of ‘humanitarian photography’. The latter approach is intended to refer to the entire historical field of the interpretation, use and function of images in a colonialist-ethnological context, which served precisely to generate support for others who were perceived as being in need of help for various reasons. Colonial image archives on the subject of illness raise questions of a general ethical nature (human dignity) as well as the protection of victims and personal rights.