THE 41 HILLS OF DASSA BY FREDERIC GADMER

FREDERIC GADMER  (1878-1954),

The 41 hills of Dassa (161m- 528ft)

Bénin 

In Les montagnes de Dassa,  Dahomey, 1930, Musée Départemental Albert Kahn

The Mountains 

The 41 hills of Dassa (161m- 528ft) are located near a small town called Dassa- Zoumé, about 200 miles from Cotonou, Benin.  Those multiple hills are a sacred location where there is a cave where apparently the Virgin Mary would have made an appearance. The cave name is “Grotte Notre Dame D’Arigbo” and, once an year, millions of individuals from Benin and neighboring area do a pilgrimage. The area is also open for excursions, mountain climbing and bike riding. It’s suggested to bring food and beverage if planning a day trip to that area.  There is no fee to make any excursions.
At that time a migratory wave of Ɔma Jagu led by Prince Oládégbò joined the first Yorubas who were already living at the foot of the hills long before the birth of Jesus Christ. Scattered in the vast forest, they could not identify. Prince Oládégbò was able to reconcile the first Yorubas. The kingdom of Igbó Ìdàáshà was therefore founded by the prince Oládégbò who became king under the strong name of Jagu Olófin (1385-1425). The kingdom of Igbo Idaasha is now ruled by the sons of this same royal lineage.

The Photographer

Frédéric Georges Gadmer was born in 1878 in France into a Protestant family; his father, Leon, son of Swiss émigré, was confectioner. 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.
Source: 
- Frédéric Gadmer 

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