GEARY, Christraud M. In and Out of Focus. Images from Central Africa, 1885-1960. Washington, D.C., 2002, pp. 104-106. MORIMONT, Françoise, "H.-A. Shanu : photographe, agent de l'Etat, commerçant" in La Mémoire du Congo. Le temps colonial, edited by Jean-Luc Vellut. Tervuren & Ghent, 2005, pp. 213-217.
<b>1892 - 1905 Boma [Congo Free State]</b> ° 10.4.1858; + September 1905. Of Nigerian (Yoruba) origin and educated in Lagos, Shanu arrived in Boma in 1884. Clerk and translator attached to the Department of National Archives, he rose to the rank of assistant district commissioner. In 1893 he quit the administration and opened a trading station and hotel. In 1894 he came to Belgium and gave lectures on current colonial topics. Back in Boma, he continued his secondary trade as a photographer, the first black professional photographer in the Congo. As a result of a general workers’ revolt in 1900, he left the country for a while, leaving his son in charge of his business. Shanu committed suicide in 1905 in the wake of financial difficulties, probably precipitated by a boycott of his business by Europeans due to his involvement in the humanitarian anti-Leopold campaign. The Africa Museum (RMCA) in Tervueren has around 60 photographs attributed to Shanu, including views of Boma, Banana and Matadi, landscapes and colonial architecture.