De Volken der aarde
De Volken der aarde is a 1903 Amsterdam ethnological survey by Johannes François Snelleman, published by Scheltema & Holkema, aimed at a general readership interested in the peoples of the world. Its photographs are plain documentary studies: a standing or seated figure against a neutral backdrop, a family posed on a raised wooden platform beneath a thatched roof, a group of musicians with gongs and drums, and a performer in an ornate headdress and embroidered costume. A designer could take from them the strong costume textures, the posed group compositions, and the grey tonal range of early halftone photography.
