Download or read book Fragile Legacies written by Amy J. Staples and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fragile Legacies showcases the extraordinary photographs of Chief Solomon Osagie Alonge (1911-1994), one of Nigeria's premier photographers and the first official photographer to the royal court of the Benin kingdom. Alonge's photographs document a half-century of the Benin palace and the rituals, pageantry, and regalia of the obas (kings), and provide rare insight into the early histories and practices of studio photography in West Africa. His insider status provides an important perspective for examining the transformations of Benin City during the early to mid-twentieth century. --Front flap.