The Surface of Things: A History of Photography from the Swahili Coast
Prita Meier
The ports of the Swahili coast—Zanzibar, Mombasa, and Lamu among them—have long been dynamic centers of trade where people, ideas, and materials converged across oceans. With the arrival of photography in the mid-nineteenth century, these coastal cities became sites of experimentation and transformation. The Surface of Things explores the maritime dynamics that shaped photographic practices in this region, examining how photography circulated as both a beautiful object and a powerful instrument of social meaning.
Immersing readers in the interconnected world of eastern Africa’s port cities, Prita Meier traces how photographs were used to decorate interiors, assert cosmopolitan identity, and exert authority—while also serving as tools of coercion and racialized display. Featuring over 200 previously unpublished images, this book uncovers the layered histories embedded in photographic surfaces and the ways people fashioned their likenesses with care, defiance, and strategic play.
The Surface of Things repositions the Swahili coast as central to global histories of photography and visual culture—where image, movement, and power converge.
Princeton University Press
Publication Date: October 2024
