Monsieur Rimbaud, le Photographe

To get you back into the poetry spirit after Thanksgiving, we'll ease in with a look at a few photographs by none other than poet Arthur Rimbaud. Lucille Pennel at L'Œile de la Photographie writes about the current exhibition on display at Arthur Rimbaud Museum in Charleville-Mézières. Pennel notes that while living in Harar, Ethiopia, Rimbaud became fascinated with the new technology. From the top:

The Arthur Rimbaud Museum in Charleville-Mézières houses treasures that afford a glimpse of a lesser known side of Arthur Rimbaud: a poet, traveler, adventurer, smuggler, he was also a photographer. The museum possesses among its collections six of the seven photographs taken by Arthur Rimbaud: two self-portraits he mailed to his mother on May 6, 1883—“Inclosed are two photographs of me which I took” —a view of the Harar market place in Ethiopia, a picture of the dome in Cheikh-Ubader, a portrait of a daboulas maker at the phantom hour, and a portrait of Sotiro, Rimbaud’s associate at his workplace in Harar. These last four pictures were sent to Rimbaud’s employer Alfred Bardey.

The circumstances in which the photographs were taken are quite mysterious. Starting in 1882, Rimbaud became fascinated with the new technology. He ordered a camera in Lyon in order to illustrate a book on “Harar and the Gallas country,” a camera he received only in early 1883. He also ordered specialized books and photo processing equipment. The planned scientific publication was never realized, and the six photographs are the only trace of Rimbaud’s activity; they should be supplemented with a self-portrait preserved today at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

Continue on to see why these rare images will eventually fade away.