Early Photographs of Filipinos on Exhibit at the Louvre Abu Dhabi

A portrait of a Filipino woman, from a series of portraits of Filipinos in 1865 by Pedro Picon, is among early photographs currently on exhibit at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.  (Louvre Abu Dhabi and musée du quaiBranly – Jacques Chirac photo)

ABU DHABI 02 May 2019 – Early photographs of Filipinos are among those on display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi from 25 April to 13 July 2019, as part of the museum’s first photography exhibition. 

Entitled “Photographs 1842 - 1896:  An Early Album of the World”, the exhibition includes more than 250 of the earliest photographs taken from across the world.

Among other highlights, the exhibit displayed historic photographs from the Philippines, including works by Pedro Picon, the creator of one of the earliest photographs in the country.

An album from musée du quaiBranly –JacquesChirac, which is presented in the exhibition, contains an early selection of studio portraits of Filipino subjects in visiting-card format.

Louvre Abu Dhabi Director Manuel Rabaté said that the exhibition “explores the role of photography in enabling the sharing of photographs from around the world, documenting people’s lives and environments. Pioneering photographers played a key role in making other cultures visible and accessible to people back home.”

The exhibit is organized by Louvre Abu Dhabi, musée du quaiBranly–Jacques Chirac and Agence France-Muséums, and sponsored by the Bank of Sharjah.

For more information on the exhibit, visit https://www.louvreabudhabi.ae. END