Cauvin, Andre. Congo by John Latouche and Andre Cauvin.

Willow, White, 1945. (Photos by Cauvin; from estate of Tom Maloney, publisher of U.S. Camera, but not marked.)  Hardcover, no dust jacket, very good. Summary:

Published in 1945 by Willow, White & Co., Congo is a collaborative photo-text book combining prose and lyric poetry by American lyricist John Latouche with extensive documentary photography by Belgian filmmaker and photographer André Cauvin. Produced during World War II, the book offers an expansive survey of the Belgian Congo (modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo), examining its geography, indigenous cultures, industrial output, and rapid modernization.

Latouche’s narrative provides a sympathetic yet distinctly mid-century Western perspective, emphasizing the territory's economic vitalities—such as rubber and mineral extraction—and the expansion of social infrastructure like technical schools and medical services under Belgian administration. Cauvin’s accompanying black-and-white photographs depict a stark contrast between traditional rural life and emerging urban industrialization. While the text reflects contemporary efforts to frame European colonial rule in a reformist and modernizing light, the volume remains a valuable historical document capturing the landscapes, people, and colonial dynamics of wartime Central Africa.