In July 1957, two months after the first American Consul was assigned to Cameroon, a U.S. Consulate opened in Yaounde. With the 50th anniversary of this landmark in U.S.-Cameroonian diplomatic relations fast approaching, U.S. Ambassador R. Niels Marquardt was wondering how best to commemorate it.

He decided on a photo exhibit highlighting the multiplicity of domains permeated by diplomacy. Ambassador Marquardt may have been inspired by an ethereal photograph of young presidents John F. Kennedy and Cameroon's Ahmadou Ahidjo walking together shortly before destiny look a cruel turn for JFK.

Photo Focus on Diplomacy, the exhibit and companion booklet's title, captured the links between the two countries. Under the supervision of Deputy Chief of Mission Rick Nelson and Project Editor Judith Ravin, the eight-member editorial production team turned Ambassador Marquardt's vision into reality. The so-called "50-year project" had six months until its July 4th 2007 debut, and the project had no money in its coffers.

A deluge of photos arrived by mail and e-mail from the United States and Cameroon. Some photos traveled from distant provinces by messenger for hand delivery to the embassy. In a country where a culture of volunteerism does not exist, the enthusiasm of photo contributors was moving.

An overriding concern was balance. The 50-year span had to equally depict each decade as well as historical events from the productive and less-productive moments in the relationship. The exhibit and book could not emphasize one president or ambassador or area of diplomacy over others. Even more challenging was achieving a gender balance through times when the role of women in diplomacy and society was relegated to behind-the-scenes support.

The team established a liaison with the Ministry of External Relations, where one official, Dr. Joe Ewang Nzume, gave project editors insights into how the Cameroonian public might view certain images. Asked what he felt about the 32-page book's planned cover image, a 1975 commemorative stamp of the sacred Afo Akom wooden statue (returned by the United States to Cameroon in a show of respect for national patrimony), Dr. Nzume said it symbolized the friendship between the two countries and was a model of peaceful conflict resolution.

The team had three days to mount the exhibit at the Ambassador's residence in advance of the Fourth of July reception, and it teamed up with Facilities Management staff to do it. Ambassador Marquardt returned from out of town after a long weekend to find his home transformed into a gallery.

At the press conference and preview of the exhibit, held the day before its opening, the turnout was massive. The press felt honored by its place in history and saw its members as protagonists in the bilateral relationship.

Some 2,500 copies of the book Photo Focus on Diplomacy were distributed on the show's opening night. Cameroonians and Americans at the exhibit said the experience helped them value how documentation can preserve national history and, had captured unique moments in the shared history of the United States and Cameroon.