Finding Aid for Alary & Geiser Algerian Carte-de-visite Album, circa 1865 91.R.6
Beth Guynn
Special Collections
2010
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
Business Number: (310) 440-7390
Fax Number: (310) 440-7780
reference@getty.edu
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Alary & Geiser Algerian carte-de-visite album
Creator:
Alary & Geiser
Identifier/Call Number: 91.R.6
Physical Description:
1 album(s)
(33 photographs)
Date (inclusive): circa 1865
Abstract: The album containing 33 cartes-de-visite by Alary & Geiser documents the
architecture and people of Algeria in the 1860s.
Language of Material: Collection material is in French.
Arrangement
Arranged in a single series: Series I. Alary & Geiser Algerian carte-de-visite album, circa 1865.
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Acquisition Information
Acquired in 1991.
Preferred Citation
Alary & Geiser Algerian carte-de-visite album, circa 1865, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. 91.R.6.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa91r6
Processing History
Processed and cataloged by Beth Ann Guynn; finding aid encoded by Holly Larson with grant funding from the Council on Library
and Information Resources
(CLIR) in 2009 and updated by Guynn in 2020.
Scope and Content of Collection
The album of 33 cartes-de-visite by Alary & Geiser documents the architecture and people of Algeria. Included are architectural
interiors and
exteriors, nomadic camps with tents and camels, and images of a variety of peoples photographed both in the studio and in
more natural outdoor settings.
Occupational portraits include laborers, a water porter, Spahis (Algerian cavalry), a wall painter, merchants, and street
vendors. The sitters of a few
male portraits are identified by title or status. Other portraits emphasize traditional dress while tropes such as "odalisque"
or "dancer," common to an
objectified European male gaze, are used to identify their female subjects.
The album is bound in dark green leather. Its brass clasps are missing, but the latches remain on the fore edge. Titles are
taken from the captions
written below the carte-de-visite window opening on most of the mounts.
Biographical/Historical Note
Alary & Geiser was a photographic firm of long standing in Algiers. Lucien-Jacob Geiser (1810-1852), was an ébéniste by trade,
who immigrated to
Algeria from Switzerland with his wife Julie and three sons in 1850. The exact nature of the business Geiser père established
in Algiers is not known,
nor is the nature of his involvement with photography. Yet at some point after her husband's death Madame Geiser, who would
have taken over the
business, went into partnership with Jean-Baptiste Antoine Alary (1810-approximately 1867), an early daguerreotypist. Eventually
the youngest Geiser
son, Jean-Théophile (1848-1923), became involved with the photography business, running it into the 1920s.
Sources consulted:
Jacobson, Ken. Odalisques & Arabesques: Orientalist Photography, 1839-1925. London: Quaritch, 2009.
Conditions Governing Use
Digitized Material
The album was digitized by the repository in 2009 and the images are available online:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/91r6
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Albumen prints -- Algeria -- 19th century
Algeria -- Description and travel
Vernacular architecture -- Algeria
Islamic architecture -- Algeria
Women -- Algeria
Studio portraits -- Algeria -- 19th century
Cartes-de-visite -- Algeria -- 19th century
Photograph albums -- Algeria -- 19th century
Alary & Geiser Algerian carte-de-visite album, Series I.
circa 1865
Algerian cartes-de-visite album (digitized version)
Arrangement
In original order.
box 1, page 1 recto
Intérieur d'une maison mauresque 91.R.6-1r
box 1, page 1 verso
Intérieur de la casbah / palais des beys (coup d'évantail) 91.R.6-1v
Scope and Contents
The caption is written upside down above the image.
box 1, page 2 recto
Campement d'Arabes 91.R.6-2r
Scope and Contents
Shows a group of men sitting outside a striped tent.
box 1, page 2 verso
Campement d'Arabes 91.R.6-2v
Scope and Contents
Shows camels and men seated in front of a large, dark tent. The caption is written upside down above the image.
box 1, page 3 recto
[Reclining Figure with Cigarette] 91.R.6-3r
box 1, page 4 recto
Intérieur d'un café arabe 91.R.6-4r
Scope and Contents
The photographer's imprint is visible on the border of the carte-de-visite: Alary & Geiser, Phot.
box 1, page 4 verso
Joueurs d'echecs 91.R.6-4v
box 1, page 5 recto
Jardin de Marengo et mosquée de Sidi Abder Rhaman 91.R.6-5r
box 1, page 6 recto
Porte neuve 91.R.6-6r
Scope and Contents
Title from carte-de-visite mount. The photographer's imprint is also visible on the border of the carte-de-visite: Alary &
Geiser, Phot.
Written on mount below image: Entrée de l'armée en 1830. The photograph depicts a gate at the base of the city walls of Algiers.
box 1, page 6 verso
[Group of Arabs outside a Door] 91.R.6-6v
Scope and Contents
Numbered in negative: N. 39.
box 1, page 7 recto
Spahis 91.R.6-7r
Scope and Contents
Numbered in negative: N. 92. The photograph depicts a single mounted cavalryman.
box 1, page 7 verso
Chasseur d'autruche 91.R.6-7v
box 1, page 8 recto
Marchand de charbons 91.R.6-8r
box 1, page 9 recto
Marchand tunisien 91.R.6-9r
box 1, page 9 verso
Peintre en bâtiments 91.R.6-9v
box 1, page 10 verso
Danseuse du désert 91.R.6-10v
Scope and Contents
Photographic reproduction of a painting.
box 1, page 12 recto
Mauresque en tenue 91.R.6-12r
box 1, page 12 verso
Mauresque en tenue de ville 91.R.6-12v
box 1, page 14 recto
Danseuse 91.R.6-14r
Scope and Contents
Depicts a standing woman holding a scarf up to her head.
box 1, page 14 verso
Danseuse 91.R.6-14v
Scope and Contents
Shows a standing woman holding a baton.
box 1, page 15 recto
Négresse marchande de dattes 91.R.6-15r
box 1, page 15 verso
Groupe de Mauresques 91.R.6-15v
box 1, page 16 recto
Mauresque en négligée 91.R.6-16r
box 1, page 16 verso
Marchand arabe 91.R.6-16v
box 1, page 17 recto
Hagah de Millanah 91.R.6-17r
box 1, page 17 verso
Fils du Hagah de Millanah 91.R.6-17v
box 1, page 18 recto
Pacha de Mustapha (Prince) 91.R.6-18r
Scope and Contents
Photographer's partial blind stamp on verso of carte-de-visite: Alary & Geiser / [Photographes] éditeurs / à Alger.
box 1, page 18 verso
Officier de Spahis 91.R.6-18v
Scope and Contents
The mount is lacking the carte-de-visite.
