This is an exploration of the function of photography in Central Africa. It explores and links two related themes: the role of photographic images in constructing and circulating fantasies, ideas and sentiments in Europe and the US relating to peoples of Central Africa; and the role of photography in enabling Africans to project and create images of themselves during encounters with foreign photographers. The publications is devoted to the holdings of the Eliot Eliofson Photographic Archives, a department of the National Museum of African Art, USA, a repository of more than 200, 000 historical and contemporary images from all over Africa.