An exploration of images that have helped shape perceptions of people, places and cultures

Photographs 1842-1896, An Early Album of the World puts forward a global and documented vision of the practice of photography in the first decades of the medium, highlighting the key elements and chronological boundaries of the appropriation of photography outside of Europe.  It explores some of the earliest images taken by travellers and sailors in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, India and the Americas, as well as photographs taken by local residents of their surroundings.

Co-published in April 2019 by Kaph books, Louvre Abu Dhabi and Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, designed in three languages (French, English and Arabic), the book's 100 reproductions reveal some of the earliest known photographs.