Gloria Oyarzabal, USUS FRUCTUS ABUSUS_la Blanche et la Noire XVII, de la série USUS FRUCTUS ABUSUS. La Blanche et la Noire , 2022 © Gloria Oyarzabal

Photo Elysée offers a critical reinterpretation of the photographic archives of the Lehnert & Landrock studio, which have been part of the museum’s collection since 1985. Active in North Africa in the early 20th century, Rudolf Franz Lehnert (1878–1948) and Ernst Heinrich Landrock (1878–1966) constructed and disseminated an iconography of the Orient intended for a European audience, deeply marked by the colonial context of their time.

Today, the museum is questioning its role as a mediator of images by offering a critical and introspective reinterpretation of the photographs from the Lehnert & Landrock studio. In collaboration with a scientific committee, the exhibition examines the political and aesthetic dimensions of images produced in the context of Western expansionist enterprises and representative of the Orientalist movement.

To deepen this reflection, Photo Elysée has invited the Spanish artist Gloria Oyarzabal to explore the museum’s archives. Her contemporary perspective questions the way museums approach collections linked to colonial history. Her work dialogues with that of the Saudi artist Nouf Aljowaysir, who demonstrates how artificial intelligence prolongs and reinforces stereotypes associated with the portrayal of the Orient.

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