Continents manuscrits (Apr 2020)
À la recherche de Mohamed Kouaci, artisan de la Révolution par l’image
Abstract
Mohammed Kouaci (1922-1996) is the best-known photographer of the Algerian war of independence (1954-1962). However, his archives, preserved by his family, remain for the most part unpublished. Very seldom explored and studied, they were never inventoried. The historian who wishes to use these photographs as a source is faced with complex methodology questions. This article, based on the interaction of written, oral and photographic sources, explores a research experience in Algeria centered on a private archive. It traces the singular itinerary of the militant photographer who migrated to Paris in 1946 and who we find in Tunis in 1958 when he becomes head of photography of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic’s Ministry of Information. The analysis of the photography archive allows to restore his activity in a broader context: Mohammed Kouaci was one of the many artisans, anonymous for the most part, of the information policy led by the National Liberation Front during the war of independence, which offered a counter narrative to the one imposed by France. Photography played a central role in media strategies and the internationalization of the Algerian cause which, in the end, proved to be fruitful.
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