Photographic and audio-visual funds

The missionary’s objective was not to produce artistic photographs, but rather to document and preserve the memory of his daily life. Therefore, our fund mainly consists of amateur photographs. Thanks to these “simple” pictures, certain missionaries visually transcribed their environment and way of life, and sent these shots to their families and fellow brothers. This is one reason why these pictures do not all include a title or contextual notices. Conversely, from the 1880 onwards, the MEP also developed a policy of documentary photography, used to illustrate their communication media back in France (mostly missionary reviews). These photographs are very well documented and often take the form of photoengraving plates intended for printing.

The oldest items in our collection are daguerreotypes (1850s). Photographs from between the 1860s and 1880s are relatively rare. However, the last two decades of the nineteenth century witness a more substantial number of missionaries taking hold of the photograph, as the technology was in a stage of popularisation and simplification at the time (following the invention of gelatine supports). From then on, the Paris Seminary starts receiving pictures of the missionaries’ daily life and activities, and of the populations and landscapes of Asia. The photographic production grows increasingly during the whole of the twentieth century, with a peak between the 1960s and 1970s. Currently, we are developing new techniques in order to gather and classify digital photographs produced by missionaries today.

From 1848 onwards, the MEP tradition was that a Parisian photographer would capture the portrait of each missionary before their departure to Asia. We therefore preserve a portrait of each leaver since the beginning of photography (with a few rare exceptions). A group picture was also taken before each departure, in an eclectic fashion until 1860, and then more systematically until the late 1960s (except for the two world wars). All these pictures are classified by year and digitised.

New funds regularly arrive, expanding our collections. They are notably given by families of past missionaries concerned about the survival of these documents, some of which are of a great historic and ethnographic value.

From a material standpoint, the fund is made of:

• Black and white and colour photographic prints (more than 250,000 units)
• Glass plates (800 plates, all digitised):

90% of these plates have been given to the MEP by Fr. Flachère’s family. They were taken by this priest during his journey in Asia serving as a marine chaplain between 1927 and 1934 (China, Japan, Indochina, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Siam). The remaining 10% come from the purchase of Fr. Albert Piard’s fund, a missionary in China during the first quarter of the twentieth century.

• Slides

Over 10,000 views identified by mission countries. The inventory is in progress, and the views are not digitised.

Archives de la Congrégation pour l’Évangélisation des peuples (Vatican)

Archives des Œuvres pontificales missionnaires (Lyon)

Jacques Dournes fund : CREM et Musée du Quai-Branly (Paris)

Fathers Moriceau et Boutary fund :  CERIMES (Paris)