Wish You Were Here…
Church Building, Lagos, Nigeria

Colonial Church Lagos.
View full item in the Atla Digital Library.
This postcard view of the Colonial Church in Lagos dates from the 1910s-1920s and was initially created to generating goodwill between Westerners and the work of missionaries abroad. The image shows a brick and shingled Western-style edifice that, while modest, must have served as a large indoor gathering place for the local community. The doorway and windows are starkly dark, likely a testament to the builders’ attempts to mitigate heat under the Nigerian sun. The darkness also seems an invitation to a quieter, more mysterious interior.