In the image above, taken in the 1910s or 1920s, an nameless woman from Senegal stares defiantly into the camera, her hands placed gently on her stomach as if to signal she's pregnant. Her gaze is haloed by a traditional hairstyle, woven together with black wool as was the style in West Africa at the time, and punctuated by an array of carefully placed jewelry.

To sum up the portrait in a few words, an onlooker might toss out adjectives like chic and classic, describing the subject as confident or elegantly proud. The photograph, snapped by an artist as anonymous as the picture's star, is part of a new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art titled "In and Out of the Studio: Photographic Portraits from West Africa ." On view in New York City now, the show offers a peek into a century's worth of image-making across the Atlantic Ocean, and a glimpse into life outside of European purview in countries like Senegal, Cameroon, Mali, Gabon and beyond.