Dustouson Les Archives usine de la Planète La France couverture rigide Albert Kahn

TheArchives of the Planet(French:Les Archives de la Planète) was a photographic endeavour to document buildings and cultures around the world.

In 1909, Kahn travelled with his chauffeur and photographer,Alfred Dutertre, to Japan on business and returned with many photographs of the journey. This prompted him to begin a project to collect a photographic record of the entire Earth. He appointed Jean Brunhes as the project director and sent photographers to every continent to record images of the planet using the first practical medium for colour photography,autochromeplates, and earlycinematography. Between 1909 and 1931, they collected 72,000 colour photographs and 183,000 meters of film. These form a unique historical record of 50 countries, known asThe Archives of the Planet.

Kahns photographers began documenting France in 1914, just days before the outbreak of World War I, and by liaising with the military, they managed to record both the devastation of war and the struggle to continue everyday life and agricultural work.