Boston Globe: 30 of the best dance, theater, book, art, and classical music events in New England this spring
Todd Webb (United States, 1905– 2000), Untitled (44UN-7930-609), Trust Territory of Somaliland (Somalia), 1958, archival pigment print, 20 x 20 inches. Courtesy of the Todd Webb Archive, © Todd Webb Archive
Outside the Frame: Todd Webb in Africa
In 1958, the United Nations commissioned photographer Todd Webb to document the impact of rapid economic development spurred by foreign investment on landscape and daily life in a number of African countries: a sparkly new Texaco station in Togo, or neat rows of stainless-steel campers parked in the desert in Somaliland (now Somalia) to house workers at a new well drilled by the Sinclair Oil Co. The results, sparsely published and largely ignored by the UN, depict an Africa grappling with a sudden rush to Westernize, often amid struggles for independence from its Colonial overlords who stood to benefit most from its rapid change. March 24-June 18, Portland Museum Of Art, 7 Congress Square, Portland, Maine, 207-775-6148, portlandmuseum.org