CIRQUE OF AÏN OUARKA PHOTOGRAPHED BY FREDERIC GADMER

FREDERIC GADMER (1878-1954)

 The Cirque of Aïn Ouarka  (1,672m - 5,485ft)

 Algeria

In Aïn -Ourka et les Pitons de Marne Verte, 1921 Autochrome Lumière,
Musée Départemental Albert Kahn 

The mountain 

The Cirque of Aïn Ouarka   (1,672m - 5,485ft) is a basin surrounded by steep mountains of green marl, where one can find two clear and deep saltwater ponds, coming from thermal waters. In this volcanic crater, in an exceptional landscape is located  the spa of Aïn Ouarka. Situated in the heart of the Ksours Mountains in the Western Saharan Atlas, Aïn Ouarka, part of the municipality of Asla, is located at a distance of 60 kilometers from the town of Aïn Sefra in the Wilaya of Naama.
The area of the high steppe plains of the Algerian western south is characterized by its great extents estimated at 6 million hectares and contains several types of natural environments articulated around ecosystems. Thus, under in arid climate, we find accessible zones of freshness, due to the presence of an important quantity of water, a rather rich biodiversity allowing the cohabitation of domestic, economic and ecological activities. The ecosystem of Aïn Ouarka is presented as a revealing case, requiring a careful thought in regards of its natural assets, its environmental constraints and its future prospects. The therapeutic benefits of water of this site has been highlighted from the very start of the century and much of researchers testify to the presence of two large lakes, with water clear and deep  showing  a site with important vegetation which shelters migratory birds temporarily. At present, the site of Aïn Ouarka, gives the impression of two small water marres very distant one from the other.

The photographer 

Frédéric Georges Gadmer was born in 1878 in France into a Protestant family; his father, Leon, son of Swiss émigré, was confectioner, and his mother, Marie Georgine, was unemployed. Before World War II, he follows his family in Paris and works as a photographer for the house Vitry, located Quai de la Rapée. As an heliogravure company, it performs work for the sciences and the arts, travel and education. In 1898 Gadmer completed his military service as a secretary to the staff then recalled in 1914 at the time of mobilization. In 1915, he joined the newly created  "Photographic Section of the Army" and carried pictures on the front, in the Dardanelles, with General Gouraud, then in Cameroon. In 1919, at age 41, he was hired as a photographer by Albert Khan for his project called "Archives of the Planet". He finds there his comrades of  "the film and photographic section of the army" Paul Castelnau and Fernand Cuville. Soon as he arrived, he made reports in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Palestine. It was the first to make a color portrait of Mustafa Kemal, leader of the Young Turks. In 1921, he returned to the Levant with Jean Brunhes, the scientific director of the Archives of the Planet. The same year, he attended General Gouraud, appointed High Commissioner in Syria. Operator and prolific photographer, specializing in distant lands and landscapes, it covers Iraq, Persia, Afghanistan, Algeria and Tunisia. In 1930, he accompanied Father Francis Aupiais in Dahomey. He also works in Europe. In 1931, at the request of Marechal Lyautey, he photographies the Colonial Exhibition. It is one of the last person to leave the "Archives of the Planet" threatened by the Albert Kahn's bankruptcy in 1932. He then worked at the famous french newspaper L'Illustration and carries postcards for Yvon. He died in Paris, unmarried, in 1954 and is buried in Saint-Quentin, as his parents.

Source: 

- Frédéric Gadmer in the Médiathèque Albert Kahn

About the  "Autochrome Lumière" Photos

The autochrome is a photographic reproduction of process colors patented December 17, 1903 by Auguste and Louis Lumière french brothers. This is the first industrial technique of photography colors, it produces positive images on glass plates. It was used between 1907 and 1932 approximately an particularly in many pictures of the World War I. A important number of photographs of mountains and landscapes around the world was made with this technique, particularly in the for  the Project "The archives of the planet" by Albert Kahn.  

Source: 

- Musée Départemental Albert Kahn on line