id: 161409 accession number: 2000.109 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2000.109 updated: 2023-03-15 15:46:38.655000 Africa III: Guardian, The Efe Tribe, The Ituri Rain Forest, Zaire, 1989. Elisabeth Sunday (American, b. 1958). Gelatin silver print, gold-toned; image: 85.7 x 71.4 cm (33 3/4 x 28 1/8 in.); paper: 100.8 x 76.1 cm (39 11/16 x 29 15/16 in.); matted: 121.9 x 96.5 cm (48 x 38 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Marty Alpert 2000.109 title: Guardian, The Efe Tribe, The Ituri Rain Forest, Zaire title in original language: series: Africa III series in original language: creation date: 1989 creation date earliest: 1989 creation date latest: 1989 current location: creditline: Gift of Marty Alpert copyright: --- culture: America, 20th century technique: gelatin silver print, gold-toned department: Photography collection: PH - American 1951-Present type: Photograph find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Elisabeth Sunday (American, b. 1958) - artist --- measurements: Image: 85.7 x 71.4 cm (33 3/4 x 28 1/8 in.); Paper: 100.8 x 76.1 cm (39 11/16 x 29 15/16 in.); Matted: 121.9 x 96.5 cm (48 x 38 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: written in pencil on verso: "Elisabeth Sunday [signed]/ 'Guardian' ©1989/ The BaMbuti, Ituri Rain Forest, Zaire/ GTSP Ed #8/10 of 25" (note: ES erroneously wrote BaMbuti on photo to protect the Efe tribe) translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Elisabeth Sunday [1958-] (the artist) date: footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: September 18, 2000 footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: "Photographing in the Ituri Rain Forest was by far the most challenging photographic assignment I have ever given myself," said artist Elisabeth Sunday. "It was very dark in there. This series was created by searching the forest floor in search of shafts of light that would spill down through the thick canopy of trees. Usually, those accompanying me would run ahead to scout a sunlit location. If they found a place suitable for pictures, they could send back calls to the rest of us. We'd then all break into a swift jog on an undulating and winding forest path in an effort to reach the light before it faded. This routine of searching for the light would repeat itself every day of my stay in the rain forest. It became a kind of meditation . . . searching for light. The small child in this photograph is the 'Guardian' or spirit of life. She represents the anima that imbues the forms on Earth with life. At the base of this image, human form and botanical form are intertwined, differentiating themselves as the eye travels up the image toward the top. The Efe believe that they 'are of all things' with no separation between themselves and their beloved forest." --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES