Acolatse’s career spanned nearly 50 years. He retired in the mid 1950s, a few years before Togo’s independence in 1960, and died aged 95 in 1975. This image shows the fashions worn in the early 19th century by the Togolese elite. “It was for me, the first time I saw Togolese people photographed through a Togolese gaze,” Ayivi said of his work.