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DIGITAL
PHOTOGRAPHY
A N I N T R O D U C T I O N
DIGITAL
PHOTOGRAPHY
A N I N T R O D U C T I O N
CONTENT PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED IN DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHER’S HANDBOOK

TOMANG
 For Wendy

Senior Editor Nicky Munro

Designer Joanne Clark
US Editor Megan Douglass

CONTENTS
Jacket Designer Laura Brim
Producer, Pre-production Rebekah Parsons-King
Production Controller Mandy Inness

Managing Editor Stephanie Farrow

Senior Managing Art Editor Lee Griffiths 06 Introduction
First American Edition, 2012
This edition published in the United States in 2018

1
by DK Publishing, 345 Hudson Street, New York,
New York 10014 CORE
Copyright © 2018 Dorling Kindersley Limited
DK, a Division of Penguin Random House LLC
SKILLS
Text copyright © 2002, 2007, 2010,
2012, 2018 Tom Ang 10 Your first pictures
All images © Tom Ang, except where
otherwise stated. 12 Picture composition
For further information see: www.dkimages.com 18 Focusing and depth of field
18 19 20 21 22 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
001–294569–January/2018 22 Movement blur
24 Influencing perspective
All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under the copyright 26 Changing viewpoints
reserved above, no part of this publication may be 28 Quick fix Leaning buildings
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any 29 Quick fix Facial distortion
means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, 30 Color composition
recording, or otherwise), without the prior written
permission of the copyright owner. 34 Quick fix White Balance
Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley 36 Exposure control
Limited.
38 Low-key images
A catalog record for this book is available from the 40 Accessory flash
Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4654-6862-8 42 Quick fix Electronic flash
44 Electronic flash
DK books are available at special discounts when
purchased in bulk for sales promotions, premiums,
fund-raising, or educational use. For details,
contact: DK Publishing Special Markets, 345

2 PHOTOGRAPHY
Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
SpecialSales@dk.com

Printed and bound in China PROJECTS

A WORLD OF IDEAS: 52 Abstract imagery
SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW
55 Architecture
www.dk.com 58 Documentary photography
62 Street photography
64 Vacations and travel 144 Curves
70 Weddings 148 Color to black and white
72 Children 156 Vintage effects
76 Landscapes 158 Working with RAW
82 Cityscapes 162 Duotones
86 Low-light photography 164 Cross-processing
88 Animals 166 Tints from color originals
92 Panoramas 168 High dynamic range
94 Live events 172 Selecting pixels
98 Portraits 176 Masks
102 Camera phone photography 178 Quick fix Removing backgrounds
180 Layer blend modes
186 Cloning techniques

3
188 Simple composite
IMAGE 190 Image stitching
DEVELOPMENT

4
106 Workflow essentials
108 Downloading BUYING
110 Image management GUIDE
112 Capture defects
114 Color management 194 Camera phones
116 Cropping and rotation 196 Compacts
118 Quick fix Poor subject detail 198 Mirrorless compacts
119 Quick fix Poor subject color 200 SLRs
120 Levels 202 Choosing lenses
122 Burning-in and dodging 206 Photographic accessories
124 Dust and noise 210 Digital accessories
126 Sharpening 212 Electronic lighting
130 Blurring 214 Computers
134 Quick fix Image distractions 216 Computer accessories
136 White balance 218 Printers and other devices
138 Color adjustments
140 Saturation and vibrance 220 Index
142 Manipulation defects 224 Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION
This is the fifth edition of Digital Photography: An Introduction, celebrating over
10 years in print. In that time, while few of the fundamentals of image-making have
changed, digital technologies have transformed much of photography almost beyond
recognition. The steady rise of photographers’ skills as access to photography has spread
to literally billions of people all over the world is itself a remarkable social and artistic
phenomenon. One result is the bewildering explosion in the number of photographs
being made: the total has passed a trillion images per year, and by the next edition we
should not be surprised to learn that the 2-trillion mark has been reached.
While the steady improvement in photographic abilities is attributable in part to
technology’s ingeniously adept mediation, it is evident that skills and understanding
of photography have genuinely grown and continue to blossom. Nonetheless, the
hunger for photographic knowledge has also exploded, which drives the continuing
demand for—and appeal of—this book.
We have responded to the latest developments with numerous updates to
Digital Photography: An Introduction. We have taken account, for example, of the rise
of the interchangeable lens compact and the diversification of image manipulation
and management. In the process, our sections on film and scanning have finally had
to be removed. In their place, we have introduced several new pages in which we
examine images to understand the theory behind their impact.
With this fifth edition, we find photography approaching a turning point. Core
practices such as photojournalism are under siege from changing economic, political,
and ideological forces. The dominance of social media has driven sweeping changes
in the nature of the photographic subject, pushing formerly trivial subjects such as
the self, the mundane, and daily meals to center stage.
Major technologies are now fully mature, so the computer errors, crashes, and
corrupted files that made digital photography such a time-consuming process are
no longer daily occurrences. The power of the internet and the ability to send a still
image to a million places around the planet in seconds are now taken for granted.
In short, the camera in your hand is the most elaborate and potent visual tool
ever invented. You can enjoy enormous fun with it. You can have your life hugely
enriched by its creative returns, and you can make a difference to the world. That
is photography’s strength—that is its gift to you. And it is yours to give back through
your own humanity, artistry, and creativity.

May the light be with you!

1 CORE
SKILLS
10 C O R E S KIL L S
YOUR FIRST PICTURES
Photography first became truly popular when
photographers no longer had to be personally
responsible for processing their pictures. In the
digital era, you can simply press the button and
your camera or computer does all the rest. Indeed,
with many cameras you can start snapping away
the moment you take it out of the box. There is no
need to hold back, and certainly no immediate call
for the instruction book.
First date
After the initial fun, however, it is worth making a
few conscious decisions. It is a good idea to set at
least the date and time before you begin any serious
photography. If you are going on vacation,
remember to change to local time—and if you are
traveling with friends or family it helps if you
synchronize your cameras’ clocks, as this makes it
easier to sort and sequence images later.
Quality or ease
The default, or “out-of-the-box,” settings will be
designed to help you use the camera easily and also
to give a good impression of its abilities. You may
find that, for this early stage of experimentation,
▶ Unlikely beauty
Photography has a unique
talent for turning the
unattractive into an
intriguing image. The
unlikeliest subjects, such as
rusting doors, peeling paint
and, as here in New
Zealand, the worn bottom
of a boat, can yield patterns
of colors and textures that
entertain the eye.
the image files are unnecessarily large. Change the
image size to the smallest while you are learning
to use the camera.
You can, and should, shoot freely with the
camera. Try out all the different modes and scene
settings, different sensitivities, and color settings to
see what results they produce. Try the camera
indoors, on friends and family, take it outdoors, use
it in bright light, and shoot in darkened places.
While at this stage of learning, it is OK to make a
quick review of the images you capture. However,
the best way to assess images properly is by using a
computer monitor (see pp. 214–5).
Regaining control
You can leave all settings on automatic, thereby
putting the camera in control. You may be able to
teach yourself the basics of composition with this set
up, but the finer points of exposure and color control
will be in the camera’s hands, not yours. In short,
you will not be making the most of your camera.
When you have an idea what each mode and
setting does to your images, adopt a group of
settings—for example aperture priority, high ISO,
no flash, black-and-white, high sharpening—and
 YO U R FI R ST P I C TU R ES 11

use it to make a whole series of images. This is a

good way to learn all about your camera.

Chimping is for chumps

Chimping is short for “checking image preview” and
seems very appropriate for photographers who
exclaim “Oo! Oo! Ah! Aah!” while reviewing their
images on the camera’s LCD screen. If you allow
yourself to be distracted by the preview image, you
will miss many shots. It also breaks the rhythm of
shooting, and interrupts the concentration you
should be applying to the subject.
Try to reserve your reviewing to rest breaks and
moments when you are sure nothing is going
on. You do not have to go as far as some
photographers, who tape up their camera screens
to wean themselves off the habit, but turn off the
preview and you will find you photograph more,
and become more attuned to your subject.

▶ Out of the window

If you have a window, you have a source for images:
there will be changes in the light, and there may be
ever-changing activity in the street. Keep watch and
pictures will present themselves.

▲ Even the kitchen sink

With its usual jumble of bright metallic pots and pans,
colorful food, and areas of plain surface, a kitchen is
a surprisingly rich source of images. Contrast colorful
dishes with steel utensils, and place natural forms
against machined surfaces. Take time to explore details with
the camera set to close-up mode, with the flash turned off.
Wait for sunny days to obtain the most light indoors.
▲ Family snaps
Do not hold back from pointing the camera at members of
the family. Catch them at relaxed times with any camera—
here with a cameraphone at a restaurant—for portraits that
capture their character.
12 C O R E S KIL L S
PICTURE COMPOSITION
Photographers have the good fortune to be able to
build on the experience of centuries of painting
and graphic art with the unique visual tools of
photography. Photographic composition arises
through the joining of elements such as angle of
view, perspective, depth of field, color, and tone
with the visual structures that generations of artists
have found effective in their work.
Any photographic composition can be said to
work if the arrangement of the subject elements
communicates effectively to the image’s intended
viewers. Often, the best way to ensure a striking
composition is to look for the key ingredients of a
scene and then adjust your camera position
and exposure controls to draw those elements
out from the clutter of visual information that, if
left competing with each other, would weaken
the photograph’s impact. Composition is not only
about how you frame the picture; it is also how you
use aperture to control depth of field, focus to lead
the viewer’s attention, and expose to use light and
shade to shape the image.
If you are new to photography, it may help to
concentrate your attention on the scene’s overall
▶ Symmetry
Symmetrical compositions are effective for images that
contain elaborate detail, such as this resort interior in
Singapore. As a composition strategy, symmetry also
works very well for subjects of the utmost simplicity,
such as portraits against a plain background.
structure rather than thinking too hard about very
specific details; these are often of only superficial
importance to the overall composition. Look for the
lines that lead through the image. Are there any
repeated elements, any arrangements that make a
pattern? Try squinting or half-closing your eyes
when evaluating a scene; this helps reduce the
details and reveal the scene’s core structure.
Explore each situation or opportunity by moving
around the subject as much as possible, trying out
different angles from as high and low as you can.
When you feel the image looks right, make the
exposure without further thought. If you are slave
to the same rules as everyone else, your pictures will
look like all the others. The fastest way to learn is to
experiment freely.
◀ Radial
Radial compositions
are those in which key
elements spread out from
the center. This imparts
a lively feeling, even if the
subject is static. In this
portrait, taken in New
Zealand, actual and implied
lines radiate away from the
central subject, pointing to
the portrait sitter at the
same time as leading away
to all the other elements.
 P I C TU RE C O MPO SI TI O N 13

▲ Diagonal
Diagonal lines that lead the eye from one part of an image
to another will impart more energy than horizontal lines. In
this example, taken in Taveuni, Fiji, it is not only the curve of
the palm’s trunk, but also the movement of the boy and his
dog along it that encourage the viewer to scan the entire
picture, sweeping naturally from the strongly backlit
bottom left-hand corner to the top, thus engaging with
the textures of the sky.

◀ Overlapping
Subject elements that
overlap indicate increasing
depth, as do the relative
sizes of objects of known
dimensions. We can tell
that the man on the right is
closer, because he is larger
than the horse, while the
man on the left must be
farther away; not only is he
smaller than the other man,
but he is also behind the
horse. These elements
work together to articulate
the three dimensions in
this photograph, taken
during an American Civil
War reenactment in the
United States.
14 CO R E S K IL L S
▶ The golden spiral and golden section
This image has been overlaid with a golden spiral based
on the golden section, as well as with a grid dividing the
picture area into phi ratios. This demonstrates that, even
with a fleeting shot, photographers compose instinctively,
to fit elements to harmonious proportions.
◀ Tall crop
The opposite of a letterbox
composition (right) is a tall
and narrow crop, which
emphasizes an upward
sweeping panorama—a
view that can be taken in
only by lifting the head and
looking up. As with all
crops based on a high
aspect ratio, it usefully
removes a lot of unwanted
detail around the edges.
▶ Letterbox
composition
A wide and narrow
letterbox framing suits
some subjects, such as
these prayer flags in
Bhutan, perfectly. Such
a crop concentrates the
attention on the sweep
of colors and detail, cutting
out unwanted—and visually
irrelevant—material at
the top and bottom
of the image.
16 C O R E S KIL L S

PICTURE COMPOSITION CONTINUED

▲ Framing
The frame within a frame is a painterly device often
exploited in photography. Not only does it concentrate the
viewer’s attention on the subject, but it also often hints at
the wider context of the subject’s setting. Through overlap,
the frame also describes the space receding into the
distance as here, in Jodhpur, India.

◀ Geometric
patterns
Geometrical shapes, such
as triangles and rectangles,
lend themselves to
photographic composition
because of the way they
interact with the rectangle
of the picture frame. Here,
in a 19th-century villa in
Auckland, New Zealand,
shapes from narrow strips
to sharply acute triangles
are all at work to make
this an eye-catching
composition. Color
contrasts between
the warm reds of the
wood and blue sky
also contribute.

▲ Massed pattern
Even the massive crowds in this street in Kolkata, India, are
organized. The receding parallel of the road, the glint in
power lines, and the differences in scale of people can all
be used to make sense of what initially appears to be chaos.
▼ Rhythmic elements
The ghostly silhouettes of trees in Palaia, near Pisa in Italy,
organize the space into an irregular but discernible rhythm
of lights and darks, with the more or less regular negative
spaces between the trunks. Seen together, they create an
ambivalent mood—mysterious, yet calm.
P I C TU RE C O MPO SI TI O N 17
TRY THIS
Look out for patterns whenever you have a camera
at hand. When you find an interesting example, take
several shots, shifting your position slightly for each.
Examine the pictures carefully, and you may find
that the shot you thought most promising does
not give the best result. Often, this is because our
response to a scene is an entire experience, while
photographs have to work within the proportions
of the format.
18 C O R E S KIL L S

FOCUSING AND DEPTH OF FIELD

Depth of field is the space in front of and behind
the plane of best focus, within which objects appear
acceptably sharp (see opposite). Though accurate,
this definition tells you nothing about the power
that depth of field has in helping you communicate
your visual ideas. You can, for example, vary depth
of field to imply space, to suggest being inside the
action, or to emphasize the separation between
elements within the picture area.
Varying depth of field
Your chief control over depth of field is the lens
aperture: as you set smaller apertures (using
f/11 instead of f/4, for example), depth of field
increases. This increase is greater the shorter
the lens’s focal length, so that the depth of field
at f/11 on a 28mm lens is greater than it would be
at f/11 on a 300mm lens at the same working
distance. Depth of field also increases as the subject
being focused on moves further away from the
camera. Meanwhile, at close focusing distances,
depth of field is very limited.
Using depth of field
An extensive depth of field (resulting from using a
small lens aperture, a wide-angle lens, distant
focusing, or a combination of these factors) is often
used for the following types of subject:
▪ Landscapes, such as wide-angle, general views.
▪ Architecture, in which the foregrounds to buildings
are important features.
▪ Interiors, including nearby furniture or other
objects, and far windows and similar features.
As a by-product, smaller apertures tend to reduce
lens flare and improve lens performance.
A shallow depth of field (resulting from a wide
lens aperture, a long focal length lens, focusing
close-up, or a combination of these) renders
only a small portion of the image sharp, and is
often used for:
▪ Portraiture, to help concentrate viewer attention.
▪ Reducing the distraction from elements that
cannot be removed from the lens’s field of view.
▪ Isolating a subject from the distracting visual
clutter of its surroundings.

LENS FOCUSING Lens positioned

for correct focus

Spreading light reflected from or emitted

by every point of a subject radiates
outward, and those rays captured by
the camera lens are projected onto the
focal plane to produce an upside-down
image. The subject only appears sharp,
however, if these rays of light intersect
precisely on the sensor plane (achieved
by adjusting the lens’s focus control). If Light reflected Light refracted
Subject from subject by lens Focal plane
not, the rays are recorded not as points,
but rather as blurred dots. If the image
Lens not positioned
is reproduced at a small enough size, for correct focus
then even dots may appear as points,
but as a subject’s image diverges farther
from the sensor plane, so the dots
recorded by the camera become larger
and larger, until, at a certain point,
the image appears out of focus—the
points have become large enough
to be seen as blurred dots.
 FO C U SI N G AN D DEP TH O F FI ELD 19

◀ Effects of lens aperture

30ft (9m) The main reason for changing lens aperture
25ft (7.5m) is to adjust camera exposure: a smaller
20ft (6m) aperture restricts the beam of light passing
15ft (4.5m) through the lens. However, the aperture also
alters depth of field. As you set smaller
10ft (3m) apertures, the cone of light passing through
the lens becomes slimmer and more
5ft (1.5m) needlelike. As a result, even when it is not
perfectly focused, light from the subject is
not as spread out as it would be if a larger
aperture were used. Thus, more of the scene
0ft (0m) within the field of view appears sharp. In this
illustration, lens focal length and focus
distance remain the same, and depth of field
at f/2.8 covers just the depth of a person,
whereas at f/8 it increases to 6ft (2m) in
extent. At f/22, depth of field extends from
f/2.8 f/8 f/22
5ft (1.5m) to infinity.

◀ Effects of lens focal length

30ft (9m)
Variations in depth of field resulting
25ft (7.5m)
20ft (6m)
from focal length alone are due to
image magnification. With our figure
15ft (4.5m)
at a constant distance from the camera,
10ft (3m) a long focal length (135mm) will record
him at a larger size than does a standard
lens (50mm), which, in turn, creates a larger
5ft (1.5m)
image than the wide-angle (28mm). To the
eye, the figure is the same size, but on the
sensor or film, the figure’s size varies directly
0ft (0m) with focal length. Where details are
rendered smaller in the image, it is more
difficult to make out what is sharp and what
is not. As a result, depth of field appears to
increase. Conversely, longer focal length
lenses magnify the image, so magnifying
differences in focus. Thus, depth of field
135mm 50mm 28mm appears to be greatly reduced.

◀ Effects of focus distance

30ft (9m) Two effects contribute to the great reduction
25ft (7.5m)
in depth of field as you focus more and
20ft (6m)
more closely to the camera, even when
15ft (4.5m)
there is no change in lens focal length or
10ft (3m)
aperture. The main effect is due to the
increased magnification of the image: as
it looms larger in the viewfinder, so small
5ft (1.5m)
differences in the depth of the subject call
for the lens to be focused at varying
distances from the sensor or film. Notice
0ft (0m) that you must turn a lens more when it is
focused on close-up subjects than when it
is focused on distant ones. Another slight
but important reason for the change in
depth of field is that effective focal length
increases slightly when the lens is set further
from the focal plane—in other words, when
5ft (1.5m) 10ft (3m) 15ft (4.5m) it is focused on subjects close-up.
20 C O R E S KIL L S

FOCUSING AND DEPTH OF FIELD CONTINUED

Autofocusing (AF) then made to change focus so that contrast is at a
Cameras are able to focus automatically on your peak, corresponding with a sharp image. This
photographic subject by using one of two method requires good light levels to work well.
systems. The active system, which uses a Another passive method samples a part of the
beam of infrared (IR), is now largely obsolete but image, then splits it into two beams. When these
was formerly much used in compact AF cameras. beams fall on certain reference points in the sensor
In the passive system, however, sensors analyze the (the beams are “in phase”), the lens is considered to
image to determine whether it is in focus and, if be in focus. The crucial property of this method is
not, how best to bring it into focus. that the phase differences vary, depending on
One passive method detects the contrast of fine whether the lens is focused in front of or behind the
detail in the image: unfocused images present as plane of best focus. This information enables the
low-contrast, because they lack detail. The lens is system to work very rapidly, even continuously.
For best results, note the following:
◀ Mimicking depth ▪ For off-center subjects, aim the focusing area at
While a narrow field of your subject, “hold” the focus with light pressure on
view usually yields a
the shutter or focus-lock button, then reframe.
shallow depth of field,
you can simulate a more
▪ Extremely bright objects in the focusing region—
generous zone of sharp sparkling reflections on polished metal, for instance—
focus linked with a could confuse the sensor and reduce accuracy.
narrow field of view by
▪ Photographing beyond objects that are close to the
cropping a wide-angle
image. Here, a 28mm view lens—for example, through a bush or between the
has been cropped to that gaps in a fence—can confuse the autofocus system.
of a 200mm lens, and the ▪ Restless subjects, such as children or flowers in a
scene appears sharp from
foreground to background. light breeze, may be best kept in focus by setting
a distance manually and then adjusting your
position backward and forward to maintain focus.

▶ Selective focus
A telephoto shot (135mm)
taken with the lens
aperture wide open (f/1.8)
throws the model in the
background well out of
focus while the porcupine
spines of her necklace
are rendered pin sharp.
Although almost nothing
is sharp in this image,
its power comes from
the suggestiveness
of the blurred image: it
is perfectly clear what
the subject is about.
 FO C U SI N G AN D DEP TH O F FI ELD 21

▪ With very rapidly moving subjects, it may be

better to focus on a set distance and then wait for
the subject to reach that point before shooting.

Hyperfocal distance
The hyperfocal distance is the focus setting that
provides maximum depth of field for any given
aperture. It is the distance to the nearest point that
appears sharp when the lens is set at infinity, and it
is the nearest distance at which an object can be
focused on while infinity appears sharp. The larger
the aperture, the farther this point is away from you.
This is useful when the scene is changing so
rapidly that you cannot keep focus on your subjects.
With very rapid autofocus cameras, its utility is
limited. It is better to focus on a subject than to
hope depth of field will render it sharp enough.

▶ Off-center subjects
With off-center subjects, as here, you may need to ensure
your camera does not focus on the middle of the frame.
Modern systems may recognize the main subject and focus
accordingly. For this image, I focused on the boys, locked
the setting, and recomposed the shot. Even in bright
conditions and focusing at a distance, depth of field is
limited because of the very long (400mm) focal length.

▲ Right aperture
Even an ultra wide-angle lens will offer insufficient depth
of field when objects are close to the lens and very distant
unless a small aperture is used. In this shot, the charm of
the scene would have been lost had either the château or
foreground flowers been unsharp. The smallest aperture on
this lens was set to give maximum sharpness, but the long
shutter time needed meant that a tripod was necessary.
PERCEIVED DEPTH
OF FIELD
Acceptable sharpness varies according to how
much blur a viewer is prepared accept. This, in
turn, depends on how much detail a viewer can
discern in the image, which, in turn, depends on
the final size of the image (as seen on a screen or
as a paper print). As a small print, an image may
display great depth of field; however, as the image
is progressively enlarged, it then becomes more
and more obvious where the unsharpness begins,
thereby making the depth of field appear
increasingly more limited.
22 C O R E S KIL L S
MOVEMENT BLUR
The generally accepted advice is that you should
hold the camera steady when capturing pictures.
Any movement during exposure causes the image
to move across the sensor. If that movement is
visible, it is seen as a blur, which causes the image to
look unsharp at best and, at worst, quite
unrecognizable. Nonetheless, there is certainly a
place for pictures that display a thoughtful or
expressive use of subject blur.
Try it and see
The effects of exposure during movement are
unique, and no other recording medium represents
the blur of movement in quite the same way as a
▼ Moving camera
The blur produced by taking a photograph from a
speeding car streaks and blends the rich evening light
in a very evocative and painterly fashion in this example.
To the eye at the time of taking, the scene was much
darker and less colorful than you can see here. It is
always worth taking a chance in photography, as you
never know what might come of it.
camera. However, since what you capture in the
image will vary with the level of movement of the
subject and with distance, its effects are hard to
predict. Experiment freely with different settings
and evaluate results on a computer monitor, rather
than the camera’s review panel.
With experimentation and experience, you will
find that brighter areas quickly become too bright
when overlapped. At the same time, dark areas tend
to be reduced by overlapping with lighter areas. The
net result is a tendency to overexpose. You can
exploit this to create high-key images or set
exposure overrides to force tones to be darker,
which helps to maintain intense colors (see pp.
38–9). The tendency to overexpose also means that
results are best in dull light with a limited number of
light-sources.
Contrasting blur
The appearance of blur is usually enhanced when it
is seen in contrast against sharply defined forms or
shapes. By the same token, sharpness appears
 MOVEMEN T BLU R 23

▲ Pan handling
Following the movement of a subject during exposure— image that are relatively stationary in the image—such as
panning—exploits the fact that different speeds of the girl’s face—appear sharper than elements that move
movement produce different levels of blur. Parts of the more rapidly, such as her legs.

greater where it contrasts with blur, so it is worth

arranging for some part of the scene to remain
sharp. This may call for the use of a tripod. Start with
exposure times not longer than 1⁄8 sec with a normal
lens. Very long exposures cause so much blur that it
becomes difficult to identify the subject. They are
also a lot more difficult to control.

Quality blur
It may seem unnecessary to bother with focus since
you are working with blur, but you will find that it is
worth focusing as carefully as you would if you were
aiming for a sharp image. By doing this you produce
a solid “core” to the image, against which the viewer
can more readily appreciate the blur.
For similar reasons, it is just as important to
▲ Tossing the camera
maintain image quality as ever. Movement blur This is a technique that can be huge fun and totally
produces smooth or milky tones, so any break up of unpredictable: set shutter priority with an exposure time
the image either from resolution that is too low for of 1 or more seconds. Hold on to the camera strap, press
the shutter button, then toss the camera into the air with
the output size (see pp. 112–3), or noise caused by
a spinning action (ensuring that the camera does not hit
high sensitivity (high ISO) settings can detract from the ground). For the best results, try this at night with street
the overall effect. lights or neon signs.
24 C O R E S KIL L S
INFLUENCING PERSPECTIVE
You can exercise control over the perspective of a
photograph by changing your camera position. This
is because perspective is the view that you have of
the subject from wherever it is you decide to shoot.
Perspective, however, is not affected by any changes
in lens focal length—it may appear to be so but, in
fact, all focal length does is determine how much of
the view you record.
Professional photographers know perspective
has a powerful effect on an image, yet it is one of
the easiest things to control. This is why when you
watch professionals at work, you often see them
constantly moving around the subject—sometimes
bending down to the ground or climbing onto the
nearest perch; approaching very close and moving
further away again. Taking a lead from this, your
work could be transformed if you simply become
▲ Alternative views
This wide-angle view (above left), shows an unremarkable
snapshot of a beach, in Andros, Greece. It is a simple image
of the place, but it lacks an engaging interpretation or
inventive viewpoint of the scene. Once on the beach,
the temptation is to take in a wide shot that summarizes
the whole scene. Instead, a low viewpoint that takes in the
more mobile, observing the world through the
camera from a series of changing positions rather
than a single, static viewpoint.
Bear in mind that with some subjects—still lifes,
for example, and interiors or portraits—the tiny
change in perspective between observing the
subject with your own eyes and seeing it through
the camera lens, which is just a little lower than your
eyes, can make a difference to the composition.
This difference in perspective is far more
pronounced if you are using a studio camera or
waist-level finder on a medium-format camera.
Using zooms effectively
One way to approach changes in perspective is to
appreciate the effect that lens focal length has on
your photography. A short focal length gives a
corner of a parasol gives a more intimate and involving feel:
by using the parasol to balance the large rock, the picture
is almost complete. Waiting for the right moment—a
child running into the foreground—brings the whole
perspective to life.

perspective that allows you to approach a subject
closely yet record much of the background. If you
step back a little, you can take in much more of the
scene, but then the generous depth of field of a
wide-angle tends to make links between separate
subject elements, as there is little, if any, difference
in sharpness between them.
A long lens allows a more distant perspective.
You can look closely at a face without being nearby.
Long lenses tend to pull together disparate objects—
in an urban scene viewed from a distance, buildings
that are several blocks apart might appear to crowd
in on top of each other. However, the shallow depth
of field of a long lens used at close subject distances
tends to separate out objects that may actually
be close together by showing some sharp and
others blurred.
▲ Distant perspectives
Overlooking the action there is a sense of the crush of
people at this festival in mountainous Tajikistan (above).
Two children holding hands complete the scene. The long
focal length version (above right) focuses attention on the
dancer, but excludes all sense of setting beyond the crowd
watching the traditional performance.
I N FLU EN C I N G P ER SP EC TI VE 25
PERSPECTIVE EFFECTS
Wide-angle lenses
▪ Take in more background or foreground.
▪ Exaggerate the size of near subjects when
used in close-up photography.
▪ Exaggerate any differences in distance or
position between subjects.
▪ Give greater apparent depth of field and
link the subject to its background.
Telephoto lenses
▪ Compress spatial separation.
▪ Magnify the main subject.
▪ Reduce depth of field to separate the
subject from its background.
TRY THIS
For this exercise, leave your zoom lens at its shortest
focal length setting. Look for pictures that work best
with this focal length—ignore any others and don’t
be tempted to change the lens setting. This will help
to sharpen your sense of what a wide-angle lens
does. You may find yourself approaching subjects—
including people—more closely than you would
normally dare. The lens is making you get closer
because you cannot use the zoom to make the
move for you. Next, repeat the exercise with the
lens at its longest focal length setting.
26 C O R E S KIL L S

CHANGING VIEWPOINTS
Always be on the lookout for viewpoints that give a
new slant to your work. Don’t ignore the simple
devices, such as shooting down at a building instead
of up at it, or trying to see a street scene from a
child’s viewpoint rather than an adult’s.
Your choice of viewpoint communicates subtle
messages that say as much about you as they do
your subject. Take a picture of someone from a
distance, for example, and the image carries a sense
that you, too, were distant from that person. If you
photograph a scene of poverty from the viewpoint
of a bystander, the picture will again have that
distant look of having been taken by an aloof
observer. Lively markets are popular photographic
subjects, but what do they look like from a
stallholder’s position? If you enjoy sports, shoot
from within the action, not from the sidelines.

Practical points
Higher viewpoints enable you to reduce the
amount of foreground and increase the area of
background recorded by a lens. From a high vantage
point, a street or river scene lies at a less acute angle
than when seen from street or water level. This
reduces the amount of depth of field required to ▲ Less can say more
At markets and similar types of location, all the activity can
show the scene in sharp focus. be overwhelming—and the temptation is often to try to
However, from a low camera position subjects record the entire busy, colorful scene. However, if you look
may be glimpsed through a sea of grass or legs. around you, there could be images at your feet showing
much less but saying so much more. In Uzbekistan I noticed
And if you look upward from a low position, you
next to a fruit stall a lady who had nothing to sell but
see less background and more sky, making it easier these few sad tulips.
to separate your subject from its surroundings.

◀ Child’s eye view

From almost ground level,
the swooping gulls feel
quite threatening and pull
the viewer into the action.
At the same time, looking
upward gives the viewer a
sense of open skies—this
would be lost with the gaze
directed downward.
 C HAN GI N G VI EWPO I N TS 27

HINTS AND TIPS

▪ In some parts of the world, it is a good idea to
avoid drawing attention to your presence. Your
search for an unusual camera viewpoint could
attract the unwanted interest of officialdom. Even
climbing onto a wall could land you in trouble in
places where strangers are not a common sight
or photographers are regarded with suspicion.
▪ As well as being discourteous, it might also be
illegal to enter a private building without
permission in order to take photographs. You
may be surprised at how cooperative people
generally are if you explain what you are doing
and why, and then ask for their assistance.
▪ Try to be open and friendly with people
you encounter—a pleasant smile or an
acknowledging wave is often the easiest,
and cheapest, way to elicit a helpful response
from strangers.
▪ Prepare your equipment before making your
move. Balancing on the top of a wall is not the
best place to change lenses. With manual
cameras, preset the approximately correct
aperture and shutter time so that if you snatch
a shot, exposure will be about right.

▲ Changing viewpoint
This conventional view of the Mesquita of Cordoba, Spain
(above), works well as a record shot, but it is not the
product of careful observation. Looking down from the
same shooting position, I noticed the tower of the building
reflected in a puddle of water. Placing the camera nearly in
the water, a wholly more intriguing viewpoint was revealed
(right). An advantage of using a digital camera with an LCD
screen is that awkward shooting positions are not the
impossibility they would be with a film-based camera.
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am living in a modest room on the upper floor) at half-past five,
thinking it best to see them as far as the harbour myself. The
appointed time has come, but not a carrier is to be seen. I wait till a
quarter to six, and am becoming somewhat uneasy, when I am aware
of the gradual approach of so frightful a din that there cannot be the
slightest doubt as to who is causing it. But have the twenty-four been
suddenly multiplied by three? A closely-packed crowd roars and
surges in the square beneath me; the bass voices of the men, the
shrill, vibrating cries of the women make up a pandemonium of
sound; but no disorderly actions take place—in fact I had not
expected any. The crowd follows me in a confused mass for the few
hundred paces down to the harbour, where the ferry-boat is waiting.
“Bwana, I would rather stay here,” says Kazi Ulaya, the handsome,
with a tender look at the fair one beside him. “Do what thy heart
prompts, my son,” I reply mildly. “And this is my boy, sir,” says Pesa
mbili II, of Manyema, who has by this time recovered his plumpness.
But he refrains from introducing to me the bibi, who, in some
embarrassment, is hiding behind his broad back.
“Now sing those fine songs of yours once more.”
The men are standing round me in a serried circle. “Kuya
mapunda” goes very well; the pleasing melody rises in full volume of
sound above the voice of the rushing Lukuledi. In “Dasige
Murumba” too, the singers acquit themselves fairly well; but when
the standard song, “Yooh nderule” begins, the circle seems full of
gaps, and my eye can distinguish in the twilight various couples
scattered here and there among the bushes by the bank. “Ah!
farewell scenes,” I think to myself, but soon perceive that I am
mistaken; no tender sentiments are being discussed, but my matter-
of-fact fellows are throwing themselves like wolves on the last repast
prepared for them by loving hands before the voyage. I wish them,
sotto voce, a good appetite, and make a note of the fact that the heart
of the native, like that of the European, can be reached through his
stomach.
The ferryman shouts impatiently to hurry them up, and I drive the
unattached contingent of the singers down into the shallow water.
Splashing and laughing they wade towards the boat; the darkness
has come on rapidly, and I can only just distinguish the white figures
as they clamber on board. “Yooh nderule, yooh nderule, bwana
mkubwa nderule”—the familiar sounds, long drawn out, ring over
the water in Pesa mbili’s voice—“kuba sumba na wogi nderulewa,
yooh nderule”—the chorus dies away. The boat has disappeared in
the darkness, and I turn my steps towards the mess-room, and the
principal meal of the day, where I am once more claimed by
civilization. The Weule Expedition is at an end.
ENTERING THE RED SEA
 CHAPTER XIX
FROM LINDI TO TANGA

On Board the ss. König, in the Mediterranean, off the

Mouths of the Nile, January 20, 1907.

A few hours ago, in losing sight of the palms of Port Said, we left the
last of Africa behind us. The flat, sandy shore of the Egyptian Delta
has now vanished from our view, and a grey waste of waters lies
before the vessel as she fights her way with increasing difficulty
against the rising north-west gale. The Mediterranean in winter is
not inviting. No trace in reality of the ever-cloudless sky we have
been taught to look for; and Captain Scharf, who certainly ought to
know, says that he has never experienced any other weather here at
this time of year. This season is always cold and stormy, forming no
pleasant transition between the delightful temperature of the Red
Sea in winter and the sub-Arctic climate of the Atlantic and the
North Sea. We shall have to steam along the coast of Crete and to
pass close enough to the southern extremity of Greece, to catch sight
of the snow-covered peaks of the Spartan mountains; so much does
the head-wind retard the course of our broad-bowed, somewhat old-
fashioned boat, which, for a first-class steamer, makes wonderfully
little way. The traveller has all the more leisure to retire, in the
comfortable smoking-saloon, into the solitude of his own thoughts,
and take stock of all that he has seen, heard and learnt in the last
nine months.
The evening of the 2nd of December passed very pleasantly on
board the Kanzler in Lindi roadstead. One could scarcely make out
where so many white-clad Europeans came from, all at once. One of
the passengers attributed this influx to the iced Pilsener which
Ewerbeck and I lavished in unlimited quantities in the high spirits of
departure; but this suggestion is scarcely to be taken seriously. The
presence of a German steamer in the harbour is in these latitudes
always a festival, celebrated by most people whenever it comes
round. And quite rightly so, for nothing is more deadening than the
monotony of workaday life in Africa.
 The trip which had taken the Rufiji three days of hard work was
performed by the swift Kanzler in one day. Early on the morning of
the fourth, Ewerbeck and I landed at Dar es Salam: Ewerbeck, in
order to take his final leave of the Protectorate, and I, to give account
to the Government of the financial and administrative side of my
expedition. For a new-comer like myself a change of place made no
difference; but the Imperial District Commissioner was visibly
moved by sad and serious thoughts. He had spent the best part of his
life, over fifteen years, in the development of this very part of
German East Africa; and, in such a case, a man does not leave the
scene of his labours with a light heart.
Dar es Salam was still more delightful than in June. At this time of
year it abounds in mangoes of every size and every variety. The
mango-tree was long ago imported from India, and is now found
wherever Indians are settled in East Africa, whether in British,
German, or Portuguese territory. It is certainly a pleasanter
immigrant than the low-caste Indian; it somewhat resembles our
linden tree in its mode of growth, and gives a pleasant look of home
to a settlement. The fruit, sometimes as large as a child’s head, is
served on ice at every meal, and is almost equal in flavour to the
pine-apple.
Into this pleasant, easy life the news of the events of December
13th came like a bolt from the blue. An excellent hotel, the
“Kaiserhof,” had been opened just before my return to Dar es Salam,
and I had the great pleasure of being one of its first guests. We were
almost suffocated with comfort: electric light, a broad, shady
verandah outside every room, a comfortable bath-room attached to
each apartment, and a more than luxurious table were, together,
almost too much of a good thing, after our lean months in the bush.
Fortunately, however, man becomes accustomed to every thing, even
to good living.
I have seldom seen so many long faces as in those days, when the
news of the sudden dissolution of the Reichstag burst like a bomb in
the comfortable, well-to-do official circles of the town. It seemed as
though every single European, down to the lowest subordinate, had
been personally affected by the event; all the mess-rooms were loud
with the dismal prognostications of the croakers as to the black
future—or rather the want of any future—before the colony, whose
 inglorious end seemed placed beyond doubt,
as each of us foresaw that the General Election
in January would admit at least a hundred
Socialists to the Reichstag. “And of course it is
all up with the railways,” was the stereotyped
refrain of all these lamentations, which the
mourners duly drowned in a sea of whisky and
soda. Personally I am convinced that things
will not be as bad as that, but that the next
Reichstag will show at least as much feeling
for the colonies as its predecessor, or, indeed,
it is to be hoped, still more. On January 25th
our steamer is to arrive at Genoa; on that date
the elections will be over, and on the following
day we shall be able to get a general survey of
THE AUTHOR IN the results, and form some idea as to the fate
BUSH COSTUME of our colonies in the immediate future.
I left Dar es Salam on December 20th by the
Admiral, a splendid boat, almost new, and rolling far less even than
the Prinzregent. It was also more comfortable than the latter; it was
no wonder, therefore, that all the cabins were full. We had still more
English on board than in the spring; many from Cape Town, and still
more from Johannesburg. Accordingly, the prevailing style of dress
was noticeably luxurious. This time I was able to go ashore at Tanga,
and even see something of the Usambara railway. Captain Doherr,
with his usual foresight, had (probably remembering the managerial
functions which he had been called upon to perform a few months
previously, in the service of the eight Deputies) arranged for a special
train to be ready for the passengers, or at least for such as wished to
avail themselves of it. With this we made the run to Muhesa, where
the expedition was brought to a halt by means of enormous dishes of
sandwiches and trays of whiskies and sodas. Something is really
being done in the north-east of the colony, as one can see even from
the train; it is true that not all the land is yet under cultivation, but
every bit of it is already in the hands of a permanent owner, even far
beyond the rail-head.
There were grand doings at Tanga in the evening. This town enjoys
a whole series of advantages. In the first place, it is the nearest to the
mother country of all our East African ports, and thus constitutes the
gateway to the colony. In the second place, the harbour is tolerably
good; the bay, indeed, is not land-locked to the same extent as that of
Dar es Salam, but, like the latter, it has sufficient anchorage within a
short distance of the shore. The most important point, however, is its
nearness to Usambara, the choicest part of our territory as regards
climate and soil. Usambara has but one fault: it is not large enough
to accommodate all would-be settlers. It is said that even now the
available land has been allotted, and there is no chance for later
applicants. Many of these are now staying at Tanga, or on their way
south to seek new fields for their energies: in fact, the boom at Lindi
was in great part caused by the congestion in the north. The
economic centre of gravity, therefore, for our whole colonial activity
lies at present in this north-eastern district. This, by the bye, is
evident from the whole aspect of European life at Tanga. After
passing many months on end in the Usambara mountains, with no
opportunities for social intercourse, the planter suddenly feels the
need of society, and in a few hours’ time we may behold him seated
in the club at Tanga.
Where there are Germans, there is also music. Dar es Salam enjoys
the advantage of two bands—that of the sailors from the two cruisers,
and that of the askari. Both are under official patronage, but I
cannot say much for the proficiency of the native performers: in any
case, their music was accompanied by a great deal of noise. At Tanga
it is not in economic matters only that the residents assert their
independence—even the Boys’ Band of that town is a purely private
enterprise. Tanga is a scholastic centre par excellence, hundreds of
native children being instructed in the elements of European
knowledge and initiated into the mysteries of the German tongue,
which, indeed, one finds that all the little black imps can speak after
a fashion. The more intelligent, in whom their teachers discover, or
think they discover, any musical gift, are admitted to the famous
Boys’ Band. This is just now in excellent training. When the
passengers from the Admiral presented themselves in the evening on
the square in front of the Club, the band turned out to welcome
them, and the playing was really remarkably good.
 CHAPTER XX
RETROSPECT

At the Entrance to the Red Sea.

Christmas and New Year’s Eve were passed at sea, with the usual
festivities; the latter, on which the dancing was kept up with equal
enthusiasm and energy by German and English passengers, was also
the eve of our arrival at Suez.
About noon on the first day of January, 1907, I set foot on the soil
of Egypt, which I have only just left, after a stay of nearly three
weeks. I had a great desire to study the relics of ancient Egyptian
culture on the spot, and therefore left Cairo and its neighbourhood as
speedily as possible for Upper Egypt—Luxor, Karnak and Deir el
Bahri. From a climatic point of view, also, Cairo was not well adapted
for an intermediate station between the tropics and the winter of
Northern Europe. One after another of our passengers remaining
behind for a tour in Egypt became indisposed. Some, therefore, took
the next boat for Germany, arguing that their colds “would cost less
at home,” while others made off up the Nile by train de luxe, in order
to accustom themselves slowly and carefully in the glorious desert air
of Assuan to the sub-arctic climate of Ulaya.
The Assuan dam is historically a piece of Vandalism, technically a
meritorious piece of engineering, economically a truly great
achievement. The narrow-gauge railway winds up the Nile in sharp
curves between Luxor and Assuan. Sometimes the Nile flows in
immediate proximity to the track—sometimes there is a narrow strip
of alluvial level between the sacred stream and the new unholy iron
road. All this time one is oppressed by the narrowness of the country;
it seems as if the first high wind must blow the sand right across it
and bury it altogether. Suddenly the bare hills on the left retreat: a
wide plain opens out before us, only bounded in the far distance by
the sharp contours of the hills in the Arabian Desert. The plain itself,
too, is a desert—but how long will it remain so? Turn to the right and
consider the great block of buildings which meets your eye. It is
neither Egyptian nor Arabian, there is none of the dirt of Fellah
barbarism about it; on the contrary, it represents the purest Anglo-
American factory style. The tall chimney crowning the whole, and
emitting a dense cloud of smoke, forms an incongruous contrast with
its surroundings—the silver Nile with its border of green fields,
running like a ribbon across the boundless sands of the desert to east
and west. Look before you at the straight canal crossing the plain and
lost to sight in the distance and the ditches and channels by which it
distributes the Nile water in all directions, with perfect regularity.
The building is a pumping-station, established to restore the desert
plain by irrigation to its former fertility. Now it is still perfectly bare:
in a few months’ time, it will be a sea of waving corn with stalks
bearing fruit a hundredfold.
The economic exploitation of the Upper Nile Valley is an example
which ought to be followed by our own colonial administration.
Without a resolute purpose, without capital, and without accurate
knowledge of the country and its resources, even that English or
American company could do nothing. We need all three factors, if we
want to make any progress, whether in Eastern or in South-Western
Africa, in Kamerun or in Togo. There is only one small point of
difference—the alluvial soil of the Nile Valley, accumulated through
many myriads of years needs nothing but irrigation to once more
make it into arable soil of the first quality. The Nile, wisely regulated,
is the magic wand which will, almost instantaneously, change the
desert into a fruitful field. This transforming agency is absent in the
bush and steppes of German East Africa. It is true that that country
possesses numerous streams, but at present their volume of water is
subject to no regulation, and none of them is navigable on the same
imposing scale as the Nile. In the course of years, no doubt, the
Pangani will become an artery of traffic, as also the Rufiji, and
perhaps our frontier stream, the Rovuma; but it will not be within
the lifetime of the present generation.
The soil of German East Africa, too, cannot be compared with that
of Egypt; it is no alluvial deposit, rich in humus, but in general a
tolerably poor one, produced by the weathering of the outcropping
rocks and not to be rendered fertile by moisture alone. Nevertheless,
so far as I am able to judge, the water question remains the cardinal
one in our colonial agriculture. At Saadani they have begun at once
to do things on the grand scale, breaking up large areas with steam-
ploughs, in the hope that wholesale cotton cultivation may put an
end to the American monopoly. So far this is very good; the
temperature is favourable, and the soil quite suitable for such a crop.
One factor only is uncertain: German East Africa, like India, is never
able to reckon on a normal amount of atmospheric moisture—and, if
the rains fail, what then?
The Dark Continent has often been compared to an inverted plate.
The land slopes gently upwards from the sea-shore, the angle of
inclination gradually becoming greater, till we have a bordering
range of mountains of considerable height. But it is only as seen from
the coast that this range can be said to have a mountainous
character; once he has crossed it, the traveller finds that, as on the
heights of the Harz or the Rhenish slate mountains, he is on a plain
almost level with its summit. To carry out the comparison with the
plate, we may say that he has now crossed the narrow ledge at the
bottom, and is now walking over the horizontal surface within that
ledge.
This peculiar conformation has to be taken into account by those
engaged in developing our colonies, i.e., in the first place, it is
responsible for the fact that the rivers are navigable only to a very
slight degree, if at all. In the second place, the greater part of the
rainfall is precipitated on the seaward slope of the range, while its
other side is almost rainless, which accounts for the arid character of
Ugogo and the neighbouring districts. Yet the greater part even of
this interior has a soil on which any crops which can be cultivated at
all in Equatorial Africa are well able to thrive. The planter there is
fortunate in being able to count on the vivifying influence of the
tropical sun, which, throughout the year, conjures flourishing fields
out of the merest sand. In the south I was able, day after day, to
convince myself of the truth of this assertion.
The South has hitherto been the Cinderella of our colonial
districts, and I fear it is likely to remain so. The prejudice as to its
barrenness has deterred both official and private enterprise. It is true
that neither the Mwera Plateau nor the Makonde highlands, nor the
wide plains extending behind these two upland areas, between the
Rovuma in the south and the Mbemkuru or the Rufiji in the north,
can be called fertile. Sand and loam, loam and sand, in the one case,
and quartz detritus in the other, are the dominant note of the whole.
Yet we have absolutely no reason to despair of this country, for if the
native can make a living out of the soil, without manuring and with
none of the appliances of our highly-developed intensive farming—if
this same native is in a position to export an appreciable fraction of
his produce in the shape of sesamum, ground-nuts, rubber, wax,
cereals and pulse—it would surely be strange if the white man could
not make much more out of the same ground.
One thing, indeed, must never be forgotten: neither this district
nor Africa in general is a pays de Cocagne where roast pigeons will
fly of their own accord into people’s mouths; work, unceasing,
strenuous work, is just as much an indispensable condition of
progress as in less happy climates. We have had sufficient
opportunity to observe and appreciate this persevering industry in
the case of the Makonde, the Yaos, and the Makua. And we may be
sure of one thing, that the European planter, whether in the north or
the south, on the coast or in the interior, will not have a much easier
time than these people. That, however, will do him no harm; on the
contrary, the harder the struggle for existence, the more vigorous has
been the development of a colony throughout the whole course of
human history. The United States of to-day are the standing proof of
this assertion; the South African colonies, now developing in a most
satisfactory manner, speak no less clearly, and other cases in point
might easily be adduced.
The waves are running higher, the König having more breadth of
beam than depth, does not roll, but cannot help shipping more seas
than she would like. Ought I, in face of this grand spectacle, to let
myself be absorbed in useless forecasts of the future? My friend
Hiram Rhodes’s taunt about “political childhood” was cruel—yet
there was some truth in it, and not as regards the Zanzibar treaty
only. We Germans have begun colonizing three hundred years later
than other nations, and yet Dick, Tom and Harry are raising an
outcry because our colonies, acquired fully twenty years ago, do not
yet produce a surplus. The honest fellows think that “South-West”
alone ought to be in a position to relieve them from the necessity of
paying any taxes whatever. One could tear one’s hair at such folly
and such utter lack of the historic sense. Most books are printed in
Germany—none are bought, and but few read there. Among these
few we can scarcely include any works on colonial history, otherwise
it would be impossible that even colonial experts should know so
little of those thousand conflicts, difficulties and reverses
experienced to their cost by the English in India, in the South Seas,
in Africa, and in America, and which over and over again might well
have disgusted the Dutch, the Spaniards, and the Portuguese with
their extensive colonial possessions. Unconsciously influenced by the
wealth of England and the affluence of Holland, both in great part
arising from their foreign possessions, we are apt to forget that three
centuries are a period fifteen times as long as our own colonial era,
and that at least ten generations of English and Dutch have won by
hard, unceasing work what we expect to receive without effort on our
part. I am firmly convinced that we shall never learn to appreciate
our really splendid possessions till a more thorough system of
instruction has supplied the want above referred to—doubly
inexcusable in a nation whose intellectual pre-eminence is
everywhere acknowledged.
Such historic sense is to be gained by putting two kinds of capital
into the colonies—the blood shed for their preservation and
development, and the hard cash spent on the utilization of their
resources.
To illustrate the extent of the British Colonial Empire and its
distribution throughout the world, it is often pointed out that the
mother country is seldom without a colonial war of some kind. This
is true in the present, and it has also been true in the past: England
has in fact always had to fight for her dominions beyond sea.
Undoubtedly, this three hundred years’ struggle for possession,
which, under her special circumstances has often been for England a
struggle for existence, is the principal ground for the peculiarly close
and intimate relation between the mother country and the daughter
states. Hardly a family but has dear ones buried in Indian or African
soil. This fact at first attaches to the country a painful interest, which
very soon gives rise to an interest of another sort. The truth of this
doctrine has been illustrated in the saddest way for us by the
sanguinary war in South Western Africa.
The other kind of capital—the monetary—cannot be discussed in
the case of our colonies without touching on the railway question.
What complaints have been made of the invincible reluctance of
German capitalists to engage in colonial undertakings! I am not
myself a wealthy man, but, if I had a million to lose, I should
nevertheless hesitate before investing it in a country without means
of communication, being entirely devoid of natural ones, while
artificial ones are as yet only in the elementary stage. At home, every
one is now expecting great things from the new driver of our colonial
chariot. Herr Dernburg is a trained financier, and he, perhaps, can
succeed where others have failed—in the completion of the great
railway system projected long ago, and in procuring the no less
necessary financial resources.
Lastly, the native is not without an important bearing on the future
of our East African colony. As an ethnographer, I am in a better
position to form an opinion about him than with respect to other
questions, in which the outsider like myself has only common sense
to guide him. The black man is pronounced by some, “an untrained
child;” by others, “utterly depraved and incurably lazy.” There is yet a
third party who are inclined to leave him at least one or two small
virtues, but these are steadily shouted down. It is true that the native
population of the Coast towns have a horror of any serious work, and
look down on it as a lowering of themselves; but I think we may be
permitted to entertain a better opinion as to the great mass of the
people in German East Africa. The most numerous tribe in the whole
colony are the Wanyamwezi, who are estimated at about four million
souls, and occupy the whole central area east of the Great Rift Valley.
No one has yet ventured to doubt their industry or their capacity for
progress; they are excellent agriculturists, and at the same time they
were, for a whole century, the mainstay of the caravan trade between
the coast and the heart of the continent. Before long this traffic must
in the nature of things cease, but we have no right to suppose that the
Wanyamwezi will therefore become superfluous. A glance over the
reports of the Uganda Railway will show us how fortunate we are in
possessing such an element in the social structure as this vigorous
tribe. Let us then be wise enough to encourage and develop this
economic force for the native’s own benefit, and above all to get the
full advantage of it ourselves. What is true of the Wanyamwezi is also
true of many other tribes. Even now, I cannot forget the impression
made on me by the high average of the farming which I saw among
my friends in the Rovuma Valley. People who, however often they
have been displaced, still cling so firmly to the soil, must certainly
have great potentialities for good, or all the teachings of racial
psychology and history are falsified. This unexpectedly high stage of
culture can only be explained by an evolution extending over a
period of incalculable length. There is nothing to disprove the great
antiquity of agriculture among the Bantu; they are conservative, as
their continent is conservative; the few alien elements still in the
economic stage of the collector and hunter—the Bushmen in the
most arid parts of the south, and the Pygmies in the most
inaccessible forests of Central and West Africa—must have been
crowded out by them many centuries ago.
The farming of our natives is done entirely with the hoe—that
implement-of-all-work, with the heavy transverse blade which serves
alike for breaking up and cleaning the ground, for sowing the crops,
and, to a certain extent, for reaping them. We are too much inclined
to think of this mode of cultivation as something primitive and
inferior, and, in fact, in so far as it dispenses with domestic animals,
whether for work or for the supply of manure, it is really very far
behindhand. But we must also take into account that some parts of
our colonies are infested with the tsetse-fly, and that the system of
cultivating narrow strips of ground entirely with the hoe really marks
a very high stage of farming. The best proof of this is the retention of
the narrow bed in our gardens, where the cultivation can scarcely be
said to be of a more elementary description than that of our fields. It
is significant, too, that for the more intensive forms of culture when
carried on in the open fields, e.g., flower-growing, as near Erfurt,
Quedlinburg, Haarlem, etc., and market-gardening as in the
neighbourhood of Brunswick, Hanover, Mainz, and other large
towns, the long, narrow bed is most in favour. Moreover, it is
difficult to see how the native could cope with the weeds—the
principal danger to his crops—were it not that his narrow beds are
easily reached from all sides.
 The native mode of agriculture, therefore, need not be interfered
with: it has been tested and found excellent.
Another question is, how shall we, on this basis, make our black
fellow-subjects useful to ourselves? In my opinion, there are two
ways, as to both of which the pros and cons are about equal. Both
have been in operation for some time, so that we have a standard to
guide us in forecasting the ultimate development of the whole
colony. In the one, the native is not encouraged to advance in his
own home and on his own holding, but is trained as a labourer on the
plantation of a European master—plantations being laid out
wherever suitable soil and tolerable climate promise a good return
for outlay. The other method has the progress of the native himself in
view, and aims at increasing his economic productivity by
multiplying and improving the crops grown by him on his own
account, teaching him new wants and at the same time increasing his
purchasing power. In this way it is hoped that he will exchange his
exports for ours.
The future must show whether the German people will decide for
one of these ways to the exclusion of the other, or whether, as
heretofore, both will be retained. For the mother country their value
is about equal and depends on the degree of activity shown in
colonial affairs as a whole. But the second is decidedly to the
advantage of the native himself. As a plantation labourer he is and
remains a mshenzi; as a peasant proprietor he is able to advance. At
the same time we must not forget that our colonies were founded in
the expectation of providing homes for our surplus population, and
that if the native is to claim the most fertile parts of his own country
for himself, nothing can come of that ver sacrum. It also depends on
the general direction of our policy whether the numerical increase
and physical improvement of the native are to our interest or not.
Some primitive peoples have almost or entirely disappeared under
the influence of civilization; the Tasmanians belong to history; the
Maoris of New Zealand and the Kanakas of Hawaii are rapidly
diminishing, and we have lately heard of the last Vedda in Ceylon.
The negro race does not belong to these candidates for extinction; on
the contrary, wherever it has come in contact with the white, it has
grown stronger in every respect; there is therefore no fear of its dying
out. But shall we go further and, by artificial selection, deliberately
raise their coefficient of multiplication? Certainly we ought to do so,
for a numerous resident population is under all circumstances a
benefit to us. It solves the labour problem for the planter, and, on the
other hand, the European manufacturer and merchant will, of
course, prefer a large number of customers to a small one. How is
this improvement to be initiated? I have nothing further to add to the
remarks which, à propos of the various diseases and other scourges
of this continent, occur in the preceding pages.
In Europe some people are stupid, others of moderate capacity,
and yet others decidedly clever. The huge lip-ornaments of the
Makonde and Makua women sometimes produce the impression of a
simian type of face, and small boys occasionally suggest by their
features a not remote kinship with the missing link, but this exhausts
the list of excuses I could have alleged for looking down from a
superior height on the people in question. In all the months spent
among the natives of the Rovuma Valley, I never discovered any
reason why we should, as we are so fond of doing, associate the idea
of absurdity with the African. On the contrary, the behaviour, not
only of the elders, but of the liveliest of the young people in their
intercourse with Knudsen and myself, was characterized by a quiet
dignity which might well have served as an example to many a
European of similar social position. My personal experiences will not
allow me to believe in the dogma of the negro’s incapacity for
development. It cannot be denied that he has achieved a certain
intellectual progress, even in North America, though the obstacles
there are greater than the facilities. Why, therefore, should he not
rise, as soon as the opportunity is offered to him in such a way that
he can take advantage of it? Only we must not expect this advance to
take place overnight, any more than we can expect a rapidity of
economic progress at variance with every law of historical
probability.
It is now quite dark; the boat must have changed her course, for
the gale no longer meets us in front, but comes from the port side, so
that no doubt we are approaching Crete. To-morrow, or the day after,
we shall pass the coast of Greece. I must confess that I am looking
forward to a sight of this country, though I do not regard its classic
age with the same unbounded and uncritical enthusiasm as many of
our countrymen, to whom the ancient Greek is the embodiment of all
historical and cultural virtues. One thing only even the blackest envy
cannot deny to the Hellenes of old—a courage in colonial enterprise
which we should do well to imitate both now and in the future.
This future is still shrouded in mystery. Will our East African
colony become a second India? I do not doubt for a moment that it
will, and my mind’s eye sees the whole country traversed by railway
lines. One of these follows the old caravan road from the coast to
Tanganyika. The iron horse has superseded the old carrier-transport,
and the clattering train now bears the carriers themselves, as well as
bulky goods which could never have been put on the market under
the old system. One line runs to the Victoria Nyanza and another to
distant Nyasa; we are able to link up with the British network of
railways in South Africa, with the communications of the Congo
State, with the Nile Valley. Thirty years ago Stanley’s march to the
Lake Region and his boat-voyage down the Congo were epoch-
making achievements. We of to-day may perhaps live to make the
trip by train de luxe from the Cape to Cairo, and from Dar es Salam
to Kamerun.
 INDEX

Abdallah bin Malim, Wali of Mahuta, 352 et seq.;

his noisy devotions, 399–400
Achmed bar Shemba, song by, 31
Adams, Pater, on the Makonde, 259–60
African continent, conformation of in relation to Colonization, 415
race, original home, question of, 12
African Fund, the, 9, 10
Age-classes, 304
Akundonde, Yao chief, information from, 140, 184
settlement of, 212,
visit to, 213 et seq.
Alum, as water-clarifier, 153–4
Ancestor-worship, 326
Antelope-hunting, 200–1
Anthropology, difficulties of, in G.E. Africa, 53
Artistic aptitudes of Natives (see also Drawings), 36
Asiatic origin of African races, discussed, 12, 13
Assuan dam, the, lessons from for Germany, 413–5
Astronomical beliefs and customs, Yao, 184–5
Atlantic Ocean, historical density, 6
Axes, etc., bewitched, 210–12
Babies, see Children & Infants
Bagamoyo roadstead, 2
Bakeri of Zanzibar, 140, 142–3
Bangala river, Camp at mouth of, 208
Bantu imitation of the Masai, 118
origin, tribes of, 12, 53, 139
Baraza, the, 65,
described, 135
Bards, 170, 175
Bark-cloth, ceremonial uses of, 276–7, 313
manufacture of, 274 et seq.
Barnabas as artist, 367–8
Birth customs
Makonde, 281, 283
Yao (as to twins), 283
Black race, distribution of, explanation of, 13
Boots, question of, 71
Bornhardt on the geology of German East Africa, 66, 67–8
Botanical features (see also Bush), Masasi region, 69
Bows and arrows, 74
methods of using, 75–6
as toys, 285
Boys’ initiation ceremonies, see Lupanda, and Unyago
Brass-founding, native, 267–70
British Colonial Empire, comments on, 417
Burial customs,
Makua, 132
Yao, 194 & note
Bush and Scrub vegetation, 51, 52, 60
Bush-burning, 58–61, 255, 257
Bwalo, the, 231 & note

Calico, as dower, 306

over graves, 194, 214
Camp life, 83–4
sleeping discomforts, 119, 163, 164
Cape Banura, 24, 25
Guardafui, 14, 15
“Cape rubies,” 209, 210
Carnon, Archdeacon of Masasi, 45
hospitality of, 74
Carriers, see also Wanyamwezi,
difficulties with, 393
paying off of, and farewell to, 393–4, 400, 405–7
Cattle, Matola’s, 138,
stampede by, 164
Central Lukuledi Valley, lions in, 245
Chain-gangs, 28, 44,
native drawing of, 371
Charms (Dawa), 129;
used in Majimaji rebellion, 51
“Cherchez la femme!” 397–9
Child-life, native, G.E. Africa, 157–8 & note, 284 et seq.
Children, native, characteristics of, and aspect, 148
Chingulungulu, author’s stay at, 104 et seq.
description of, 134 et seq.
diseases noted at, 192
meaning of name, 104 note
native amusements at, 169
characteristics, 106
route to, from Mkululu, 126–7
water-supply at, 150–2