The Archives of the Planet

The Archives of the Planet (French: Les archives de la planète) was a project undertaken from 1908 to 1931 to photograph human cultures around the world. It was sponsored by French banker Albert Kahn and resulted in 183,000 meters of film and 72,000 color photographs from 50 countries. Beginning on a round-the-world trip that Kahn took with his chauffeur, the project grew to encompass expeditions to Brazil, rural Scandinavia, the Balkans, North America, the Middle East, Asia, and West Africa, among other destinations, and documented historical events such as the aftermath of the Second Balkan War, World War I in France, and the Turkish War of Independence. It was inspired by Kahn's internationalist and pacifist beliefs. The project was halted in 1931 after Kahn lost most of his fortune in the stock market crash of 1929. Since 1990, the collection has been administered by the Musée Albert-Kahn, and most of the images are available online.