Ella Maillart

Photography became for Ella Maillart a natural extension of her eyes, and she made ample use of it. The camera was her notebook, a day-to-day record reflecting the vision of a modern,  independent and non-conformist woman. She took photographs mainly to illustrate her travel books, articles, and talks, most of her images remained unknown at the time they were taken. Today, we are surprised to see a bygone era resuscitated, a vanished or forgotten world spring back from the past. In 1989, Ella Maillart entrusted her photographic archives to the Elysée Photo Museum (now Photo Elysée) in Lausanne, Switzerland, which has devoted several major exhibitions to this exceptional body of work.