HVW1895d1

Chained labourers in German East Africa 1890-1900

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 An Ashkari soldier guards a group of forced labourers chained by their necks in  Germans East Africa . The second photo (see slide-show) shows a guard and a prisoner chained by his ankles. These photos have been produced from our original glass plates

German slavery East Africa

German Forced Labour East Africa

German Prisoner East Africa

Unknown prisoner

Glass plates / photo negatives

Photographic glass plates (negatives) preceded photographic film as a capture medium in photography. The light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was coated on a glass plate, typically thinner than common window glass, instead of a clear plastic film. This form of photographic material largely faded from the consumer market in the early years of the 20th century, as more convenient and less fragile films were increasingly adopted.

The same Ashkari soldier is also possibly found in a newspaper photo of 1905 guarding chained prisoners in Kilwa (see slide-show)

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