Bagara — Ed van der Elsken

Bagara is a striking 1958 photobook by legendary Dutch photographer Ed van der Elsken, capturing his visual impressions of equatorial Africa during a period of extensive travel. Shot predominantly in the then-Belgian Congo and surrounding regions, the work offers a raw, deeply personal, and at times controversial portrait of African life—filtered through van der Elsken’s signature cinematic and humanistic lens.

Far from a documentary in the traditional sense, Bagara leans into a sensual and highly subjective mode of image-making. The photographs—often dramatic and intimate—focus on gesture, movement, and the physical presence of the people he encountered, particularly young African women, which has led to both admiration for its visual power and criticism for its colonial gaze.

Published by La Guilde du Livre (Switzerland) in a now-iconic large format with a bold typographic cover, Bagara is considered one of van der Elsken’s most collectible early books and a cornerstone of postwar European photobook history.

Technical Sheet

• Title: Bagara

• Artist / Author: Ed van der Elsken

• Date: 1958

• Publisher: La Guilde du Livre, Lausanne

• Edition: First edition

• Format: Hardcover with printed dust jacket

• Dimensions: approx. 27.5 × 21 cm

• Language: French

• Pages: 110 (unpaginated)

• Printing: Gravure

• Condition: (fill in: Very Good / Good+ / edge wear / jacket worn, etc.)