The Habitat Diorama in/a Film - Text 11
A discussion between Carl Akeley and James L. Clark, recalled by the latter in his biography of Akeley, confirms this:
‘Do you know,’ said Carl as he filmed this scene, ‘we don’t have to look any further for a background and a setting for the gorilla group. This is it. [...] Carl felt then, and even more later on, that that morning was the high point of all his African experiences. There he stood, filming the most beautiful view in the world with a camera he had invented especially to record the Africa he loved. And at his feet lay one of the prizes of an expedition which he was sure would bring his dream of an African Hall closer to reality. He felt full of hope. There would be an African Hall – and any museum visitor would be able to view this scene. Someday.[3]
Akeley’s taxidermy project was commensurate with his project of creating a camera. In a 1921 article in Natural History,[4] Dorothy S. Greene explained that Akeley’s expedition begun that same year for the purpose of studying gorillas, was of great importance because of the high risk of the taxon’s extinction. It was necessary to collect specimens, to study them and exhibit them in habitat dioramas before they disappeared completely. Greene justified the creation and use of the Akeley camera on the expedition by the supplementary information it made it possible to record and which was beneficial to this project of understanding the fauna and peoples of Africa.
