Born in the town of Ain Beida in northeastern Algeria, Lazhar Mansouri apprenticed with a local portrait photographer, then set up a studio of his own. Townspeople, neighbors, came to have portraits made, to celebrate an occasion, to document a relationship, or to create a personal keepsake.
The pictures at Westwood — all recent prints and larger than the originals would have been — range over 20 years. He left behind more than 10,000 portraits, so the 50 here, selected by James Cavello, are the tip of an iceberg, which is a mere chip of a much larger iceberg: archives within photographic archives waiting to be rescued, researched, conserved and interpreted.
Lazhar Mansouri: Portraits of Village 1950–70 will run through May 12
