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“I would fucking kill you, but you not even worth it…” Gelatin silver print Circa 1970s Photographer unknown “The screaming had started just as I got to bed. The neighbours were at it again. It was the worst row they’d had in a while. The kids this time. Trying to kill the parents. I walked over to make sure no one was dead yet, made a pointless call to the cops and went to bed. The next day, waiting for my lift to work, I saw a photo album among the rubbish in the driveway. The fight was the last straw. The kids haven’t come back. The neighbours are quiet now...” Unknown family photo album as found by Blake Pickering, 4 McKenzie Road, Morningside, Durban, at 8am on Thursday 4 September 2003 South African Defence Force National Serviceman in his ‘step-outs’, the uniform for formal military occasions and weekend leave. At the time a Sharp cassette tape deck was the iPod of its day, and highly sought after.
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National Serviceman, South African Defence Force Chromogenic print Circa 1970s Photographer unknown On Friday, 9 June 1967, military service becomes compulsory for white South African men. The Defence Amendment Bill was passed with the support of opposition parties. Conscription was instituted in the form of nine months of National Service for all white males between the ages of 17 and 65. Conscripts became members of the South African Defence Force (SADF) or the South African Police (SAP), and were used to enforce the government’s position on liberation movements, anti-apartheid activists and the ‘communist threat’ - collectively termed ‘the armed struggle’. In 1972, National Service was increased from nine months to one year, in addition to 19-days annually, for five years in the Citizen Force. By 1974, the SAP passed control of northern South West Africa (Namibia) to the SADF, and in 1975 the SADF invaded neighbouring Angola. To maintain operational demands, some Citizen Force members were required to complete three-month annual tours of duty on ‘the border’. In 1977, conscription was once again increased to two-years National Service and 30-days annually, for eight years in the Citizen Force. Due to an increase in guerrilla activity, all Citizen Force camps were once again lengthened in 1982 to three months annually. In 1983 a publicled movement began to coordinate various activist groups to campaign against conscription and encouraged conscientious objection. This group was called the End Conscription Campaign (ECC) and enjoyed widespread support amongst white scholars, students, religious groups, and even the United Nations. The South African apartheid government opposed activities of the ECC, but restrictions were lifted in 1990 as part of negotiations towards multi-racial government. This private flashes his cash - a small fortune for the time - likely winnings or the proceeds of a sale, as the SADF monthly pay for the lowest military rank was considerably less than the R326.00 in banknotes shown (South African ten rand note in circulation 1966-1976). From memory my monthly army pay in 1975 was around R17.00 less taxes. Garth Walker
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Untitled Carte-de-visite albumen print Circa 1880s Photograph by B Kisch From the late 1860s to the 1890s the majority of men presented a hirsute appearance, with the exception of aesthetes who believed that a clean-shaven face gave them a more fastidious and aesthetic appearance. Sideburns, allowed to grow further down the face, developed into a variety of side-whiskers - broad and bushy 'mutton-chop' whiskers, or long and combed out, known as Piccadilly weepers. Side whiskers might be worn with or without a moustache, as might the fringe beard running round under the chin, in the late 1850s and early 1860s. Full beards covering the chin, combined with a moustache, were cut in many different ways - full and very bushy, rounded and neat like General Grant's in America, or slightly more pointed like that of the Prince of Wales in England. A narrow pointed beard from just under the lower lip to an inch or so below the chin, known as a goatee, was worn by Napoleon III with a long moustache waxed out straight at the sides. A waxed moustache turned up at the ends was associated with Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and might be referred to as a 'Kaiser' moustache. By the late 1880s and the 1890s the clean-shaven face was coming back into fashion, but many older men continued to wear a beard or moustache well into the new century. See more here: https://hyperallergic.com/357184/age-of-the-beard-florence-nightingale-museum/ In 1878/9 Benjamin Kisch was operating his Durban studio without the help of his brother Henry, also a photographer, who had moved to Pietermaritzburg in 1875. At the date this photo was taken - and until 1880 - Benjamin Kisch worked from his studio in Smith Street ‘opposite the Durban Club’; previously advertised as ‘Kisch Bros’ now ‘Benjamin Kisch, photographer and artist’. In 1881 he moved to premises in Mercury Lane, Durban, ‘opposite the Congregational Church’. He died in 1889. His widow continued to run the studio in Mercury Lane until 1894, when she surrendered the business to B W Greenacre, who held a bond on the premises. Greenacre later sold the studio to Ebenezer Edmund Caney, another famous Natal family of photographers.
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Untitled Carte-de-visite albumen print Circa 1890s Photographer unknown The carte de visite (visiting card) was a small photograph which was patented in Paris in 1854 by photographer André Disdéri . It was usually a thin albumen paper photographic print mounted on a thicker card. Disdéri had also patented a method of taking eight separate negatives on a single plate, which reduced production costs. The Carte de Visite was slow to gain widespread use until 1859, when Disdéri published Emperor Napoleon III's photos in this format. This made the format an overnight success. The new invention was so popular it quickly spread to America and the rest of the world. Each photograph was the size of a visiting card, and such photograph cards were traded among friends and visitors. Albums for the collection and display of cards became a common fixture in Victorian parlors. The immense popularity of these card photographs led to the publication and collection of photographs of prominent persons. By the early 1870s, cartes de visite were supplanted by cabinet cards, usually larger albumen prints, mounted on cardboard backs measuring 110 x 170 mm. Cabinet cards remained popular into the early 20th century, when Kodak introduced the Brownie camera and home snapshot photography became a mass phenomenon. Unusual for the period as most portraits were frontal. One can only assume the sitter intended to show off his impressive beard - the profile of which mirrors his nose.
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Sports Stadium, Minitown, Durban Lithographic postcard Circa early 1970s Photographer unknown Minitown is a mini city on Durban’s Golden Mile, one of the city’s most iconic beachfront tourist attractions. It’s a scaled replica of some aspects of Durban, its buildings and landmarks. The buildings in Minitown are scaled down to 1:24 of the original size. They reach just above knee height and provide a perspective one would never appreciate when walking through the city. It is a small-scale little toyland, with miniature trains and planes and even a working harbour with ships, as well as an airport. The first model was completed in 1963, and all the models are made in Minitown itself. The buildings and landmarks are occasionally updated to reflect changes in the city. Minitown is a major fund-raising tool for the Quadriplegic Association of KwaZulu-Natal.
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Drive-in Theatre, Minitown, Durban Lithographic postcard Circa early 1970s Photographer unknown
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An African Team Chromolithographic postcard Circa 1910 Published by Sallo Epstein & Co, Durban No postmark Photographer unknown Postcard inscribed on the verso Josh. From Dad in Black Man Land Chromolithography was the first method capable of repeat printing of multi-colour images on postcards published in the late 1800s and early 1900’s. Chromolithography was an expensive and labour-intensive process requiring considerable skill. Based on lithography, it used stone blocks or zinc plates on to which parts of an image had been drawn using an oil-based medium. There was one plate for each colour of the image. Postcards were printed in multiple impressions, each block adding another very carefully positioned colour layer. The postcard artist produced the original watercolour, oil painting or black-and-white photograph. The print company employed highly skilled lithographic artists who would transfer the colour overlay (on to the underlying photograph) by hand on to the printing plate.
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An Uncivilized Native’s Wedding Party Chromolithographic postcard Circa 1910 Published by A Rittenberg, Durban Postmark illegible dated July 27 10 1.14 AM and then London AUG 13 10 9. AM Photographer unknown Postcard inscribed on the verso 27 July 1910 Cape Town. With best love from Mother & Father The photograph depicts (possibly) a traditional Zulu wedding ceremony. The young unmarried women in the foreground are wearing udidla (a fringed skirt) with an umutsha (separate belt) and umbanqwa, a beaded knee decoration. The late Victorian age saw the British Empire at its zenith. Affordable tourism allowed vast numbers of Queen Victoria’s subjects to explore the far-flung outposts of her Empire, and all the exotica to be found when there. This ranged from flora and fauna to indigenous peoples, many of whom were described as ‘uncivilised’, ‘children’, or ‘savages’ - and so on. Many of these postcards from the African dominions showed indigenous people indulging in ‘British pursuits’, no doubt to amuse the folks back home. Following the demise of the Empire after WWII and the rise of African nationalism, these attitudes rapidly became politically and socially unacceptable.
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British dead in trenches awaiting burial, Spion Kop, Natal on Jan 26th, 1900 Silver printing-out print laid on album page 1900 Photographer unknown The Battle of Spion Kop was fought about 38km from Ladysmith on the hilltop of Spioenkop along the Tugela River, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa from 23 - 24 January 1900. It was fought between the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, on the one hand, and British forces during the South African War campaign to relieve Ladysmith. It was a resounding Boer victory following rash military decisions on the part of the British Command under General Sir Charles Warren. The British forces suffered 243 fatalities during the battle; many were buried in the trenches where they fell. Approximately 1 250 British were either wounded or captured. Mohandas Gandhi was a stretcher bearer at the battle, in the Indian Ambulance Corps he had organised, and was decorated. The Boers suffered 68 deaths among their 335 casualties, including Commandant Prinsloo’s commando casualties of 55 killed and wounded out of 88 men. Winston Churchill, working as a war correspondent for the The Morning Post, was also present on the battle site, which he described in his column as “an acre of massacre”. See more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Spion_Kop
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Butchering horses for food during the Siege of Ladysmith, Natal Silver printing-out print laid on album page 1900 Photographer unknown The Siege of Ladysmith was a protracted engagement in the South African War, taking place between 2 November 1899 and 28 February 1900 at Ladysmith, Natal. The town was besieged for 118 days by Boer forces surrounding the British garrison stationed at the town under Lieutenant General Sir George White. Louis Botha commanded the Boer detachment, which first raided Southern Natal, and then dug in north of the Tugela to hold off the relief British force. On 15 December, the first relief attempt was defeated at the Battle of Colenso. Temporarily unnerved, the relief force commander, General Redvers Henry Buller, suggested that White either break out of Ladysmith, or destroy his stores and ammunition and surrender. Adding to the misery of daily shelling was the worse prospect of death from typhoid or dysentery, a result of the overcrowded, unhygienic conditions. During the siege more than 10 000 fell ill and more than 500 died from disease. Then there was starvation. White made no real effort to break out, and refused to believe that his was anything but a strike force. The result of this blinkered approach was that food supplies were not adequately monitored from the beginning, and when the situation became dire soldiers were forced to eat their cavalry horses. Yet on Christmas Day 1899, the Boers fired into Ladysmith a carrier shell without fuse, which contained a Christmas pudding, two Union Flags and the message “compliments of the season�. The shell is still kept in the museum at Ladysmith. See more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Ladysmith
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British Military Camp, South African War 1899-1902 Silver printing-out print laid on album card Circa 1901/2 Photographer unknown When the South African War broke out in October 1899, British officials promised a quick end to the conflict and a “teatime war”. The early campaign was a complete disaster, however, with serious defeats for Imperial forces at Talana, Ladysmith, Modder River, Stormberg, Magersfontein, Colenso and Spion Kop, as well as sieges at Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking. Within six months the British were forced to use hundreds of thousands of men to engage the tiny republican armies, which contained about 87 000 commandos. Once the twin capitals of Bloemfontein and Pretoria were surrendered by mid-1900, it was assumed the Boers would lay down their arms and accept defeat. The war lasted another two whole years when formidable generals such as Louis Botha, Christian de Wet and Koos de la Rey adopted guerrilla tactics which stunned the British, along with the rest of the world. Highly mobile Boer commandos ran rings around lumbering columns of “Khakis”, as they called them, picking off supply wagons at will and living off the veld. Over time Lord Kitchener developed a dual strategy of destroying farms to deny the Boers vital civilian support, and gradually rounded up the commandos one at a time by deploying new mounted infantry regiments. This photograph depicts an unnamed mounted infantry camp at the end of a military railway during that phase of the conflict. While regular troops are camped to the right, with a field kitchen in the centre and the railway line behind, companies of mounted infantry are formed up on the left in front of their tents and horse lines. Although effective, the South African War took an unbelievable toll on British horses, which were not accustomed to the climate and terrain, as well as the vast distances covered in pursuit of Boers who rode on sturdy local ponies. Ultimately more than 326 000 horses sourced from all over the world were “expended” by the British in the most expensive imperial war fought between Waterloo and World War One. See more on horses in the South African War here: http://www.animalsandsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/swart.pdf
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Aliwal-North concentration camp, July 1901: South African War 1899-1902 Silver printing-out print laid on album card Circa 1901 Photographer unknown The first concentration camps were created by the Duke of Wellington during his Iberian campaign against the French, and then later by Spanish and American forces in the Philippine-American War. Where the British camps of the South African War differed was in their scale and size. The camps were established for refugees whose farms had been destroyed under the ‘scorched earth’ policy, which began around September 1900. As Commander in Chief, Lord Kitchener extended the use of the camps to include women and children who had been forcibly removed from their homes in an attempt to interrupt the supply lines of Boer guerrilla commandos. The camps were typically located near railway lines or military bases to facilitate supplies and communication. This was part of the problem; sites were chosen on a strategic and logistic basis with insufficient regard to the welfare of the people within the camps. A total of 45 tented camps were built for Boer refugees and the Africans who worked for them or lived on their farms in the Transvaal, Natal, Orange Free State and Cape Colony. The majority of inhabitants were women, children and the elderly, and conditions were generally unhealthy, with little food. Rations for the families of men who were still fighting the British were smaller still. Poor diet, cramped conditions and inadequate sanitation led to widespread outbreaks of measles, typhoid and dysentery. Disease coupled with negligible medical care accounted for the large number of deaths, especially in the early years. By the end of the war, it was reported that 27 927 Boers had died of starvation, disease and exposure; of these 26 251 were women and children, including 22 074 children under 16. See more here: https://www.angloboerwar.com/other-information/88-concentration-camps/1832-concentration-camps-introduction http://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/ This photograph of Aliwal-North camp depicts the site of a camp first established by African refugees from the Rouxville district of the Orange Free State, who were moved further downstream to a place called Dukathole in early 1901 to make way for white inmates. The image forms part of a two-volume album entitled South African War: views of concentration camps, 1901, which was commissioned by the British Colonial Office and is held in the Public Records Office at Kew, London (CO 1069-215). Of note in the foreground between the vegetation and the tents are shallow graves – a simple trench dug into the earth and then covered with rock. Between January 1901 and November 1902 a total of 712 white people died at this location, of which 546 were under the age of 15. Having personally documented Boer War burial grounds, it was common practice to have adults and children buried separately, as appears to be the case here (children to the left and adults to the right). Garth Walker
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Mounted Boer Commando: South African War 1899-1902 Albumen print laid on album card Circa 1900 Photograph by J R Gannon The Boer commando was the organised militia of the Boers, commonly relating to the South African War. Each commando was associated with a town, after which it was named (like Bloemfontein Commando). Each town was responsible for a district, divided into wards. The commando was under the command of a kommandant, and each ward by a veldkornet (equivalent of a senior NCO rank) who was responsible for calling up the burghers, policing the ward, collecting taxes, issuing firearms and other items in times of war. Theoretically, a ward was divided into corporalships, usually made up of about 20 burghers, sometimes entire families (all males). The commando was made up of volunteers and officers were appointed by the members of the commando (not by the state). This presented an advantage if the commander was astute, but equally a disadvantage if the commander was inept. Discipline was also an issue as there was no mechanism to enforce it. J R Gannon is recorded as owning a photographic studio in Paarl from 1889-90, then Sunbeam Studio in Pritchard Street in 1893, moving again to Maddison and Marshall Streets in 1899. His mounts are gold stamped J R Gannon Johannesburg Gold Fields. This photograph was acquired early in the collection from a dealer in Johannesburg. Though in poor condition - a common problem with albumen prints due to unstable chemistry - the ‘graphic designer in me’ was taken by the addition of the poorly executed handwritten numbering system I presume to title or identify each of the mounted Boers. For me, it adds an additional graphic element to the photograph. Garth Walker
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Untitled Albumen print Circa late 1880s Photograph by W F H Pocock Group portrait of Kimberly diamond workers accused of stealing diamonds, likely by secreting them somewhere about their bodies. In some cases the stones were swallowed. The accused were stripped naked and their hands secured by chains in leather mittens to prevent retrieval of the stones before a full body search, including the orifices. If the suspect was thought to have swallowed stones then imprisonment awaited until the prisoner had defecated, and any stones were retrieved. The introduction of closed compounds where workers were interned for the duration of their contract, greatly reduced theft. See more here: http://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/southafrica/southafricamigrantlabour.htm This photograph was purchased in Cape Town in 1991 as part of a series of photographs by Cape Town pharmacist William Frederick Henry Pocock (1857-1922), an avid photographer from 1886 until his departure for England in 1898. The negatives, prints and diaries of the Pocock Collection were donated to the South African Library. It is assumed this image is part of that collection. Garth Walker See more here: http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/21259607/william-frederick-henry-pocock-1857-1922-pioneer-pharmacist-civicleader-photographer
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Daughters of Zulu Chieftain Albumen print laid on album page Circa 1879 Photograph by J Lloyd A group of young unmarried Zulu maidens who have reached the age of ‘being chosen’, as signified by the specific beaded attire they display. The time and age to have a relationship with a young man is determined by the umhlonyane ceremony (menstruation). Thereafter, an eligible young woman will sing as she walks to the river to fetch water for the household. A potential suitor will follow her and wait at the waterhole where he will start to make overtures of proposal. This engagement can take months, or even years. When the woman is ready to accept a proposal, she will wear an item of beadwork that is easily taken by the suitor. Once the beaded item has been snatched, it is then shown to the female leader of the girl’s clan who will then confirm with the girl that she has accepted the correct suitor’s overtures. The ‘chosen’ young woman will then start to make a beaded ‘love letter’ with a secret message for her lover. The young men and women then meet under a tree for the impahla ceremony where the love letter is handed over to the suitor, who then wears the beaded letter as a token of their love. James Lloyd described himself as ‘Artist’. One of Durban’s earliest photographers, Lloyd’s studio was in operation in Durban in 1860 and after a brief hiatus continued working from the beginning of the 1870s. In 1896, and up to at least 1910, he was listed in the Natal Almanac at 425 Smith Street Durban (now Anton Lembede St). He is best known for his photographs of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. This photograph was part of an album I purchased in Johannesburg in the mid 1990s. The extensive and incomplete unbound album appeared to have been commissioned by a British ‘military man’ shortly after the Zulu War of 1879 . All photographs depict scenes of military interest, covering his journey from the UK to South Africa with stops along the route. Photographs include regimental personnel, military sites, extensive views of the Zulu War battle sites, Zulu people, Zulu homesteads and scenic views of Durban. The album contains prints by many Natal photographers working at the time; including Caney, Lloyd, Kisch and others unknown. To date, this is the most comprehensive collection of photographs relating to the Zulu War I have seen. Garth Walker
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Typical South African Riksha Boys Chromolithographic Postcard Circa 1913 Published by A. Rittenberg, Durban No postmark Postcard inscribed on the verso (sic) Cape Town 10/7/1913. Dear Tot Just a card hoping to find you all well as this leaves me at present. Well Tot we are getting a pretty rough time of it this last few days it is nothing to see waves fifty and sixty feet high coming to Cape Town now and I thought I would send you a few lines How is Aunty keeping I hope she is well. Well dear Tot when you get this I will be in Ireland. I am having a splendid trip I have got (ends)
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Riksha Boys Chromolithographic Postcard Circa 1964 Published by Sallo Epstein & Co, Durban (dated 1964) No postmark African rickshaw pullers, or amahashi (horses), were an indispensible part of Durban’s transport system in the early twentieth century; and by about 1907 their distinctive and elaborate costumes had already become a tourist attraction. Rickshaws were first imported into Natal in 1892 and from the outset were hired out to African pullers. Their popularity as a means of transport is reflected in the dramatic rise in the numbers of new vehicles and pullers on Durban’s streets: in 1899 about 740 rickshaws were in daily use, and 11 445 pullers were registered; by 1902 there were 2 170 rickshaws and more than 24 000 pullers. At the turn of the twentieth century it was estimated that some 3 400 people spent an average of nine pence daily on rickshaw travel in Durban alone. African rickshawmen occupied an anomalous position within Durban’s African labour market for they were ‘freelance’ operators who hired their vehicles from rickshaw-owning businesses. While it was a flexible occupation and could be remunerative, it was also hazardous - most rickshawmen only worked for between two and three months either because of ill health (especially pneumonia) brought on by the gruelling nature of the job, or because they quickly tired of pulling. Shortly after rickshaws were introduced, the authorities proposed that pullers should wear a distinctive uniform to facilitate their identification by the police. This uniform was originally an unbleached calico ‘kitchen suit’ trimmed with a single row of red braid; rickshawmen, however, soon modified it by adding other rows and allowing the braids to hang down on each side. They also patterned their legs with whitewash, wore reed bangles, and tied boxes of seeds around their ankles that rattled as they moved. They adopted decorative headdresses, which usually consisted of ox horns, through which it was believed the ox’s strength would be imparted to the puller. The rise of motorized transport in the twentieth century meant that there were only ten operating rickshaws left in Durban by the early 1980s. Currently there are a few still operating on Durban’s beachfront promenade, serving only tourists, in particular black visitors to Durban. See more here: https://historymatters.co.za/content/amahashi-african-rickshaw-pullers-early-twentieth-century-durban-25-march-2014
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President and Mrs Kruger, Pretoria Silver gelatin developing-out print laid on album card Dated 1891 Photograph by Barnett Stephanus Johannes Paulus “Paul” Kruger (1825-1904) was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th century South Africa, and president of the South African Republic (Transvaal) from 1883 to 1900. Nicknamed Oom Paul (Uncle Paul), he came to international prominence as the face of the Boer cause against Britain during the South African War 1899-1902 (Second Anglo-Boer War). Often labelled the personification of Afrikanerdom, he remains a controversial and divisive figure. Born in the Cape Colony, Kruger took part in the Great Trek as a child during the late 1830s and was present at the Battle of Vegkop in 1836. With little education apart from the Bible, his interpretations of the scriptures had him believe the earth was flat. A leading player in the creation of the South African Republic, he was elected vice-president in 1877, shortly before being annexed by Britain as the Transvaal. He then headed two deputations to London to try and restore (unsuccessfully) the Republic’s independence, which led ultimately to the Anglo-Boer War in 1880-81, and a Boer victory as a result of their triumph at Majuba. As president in 1884, he headed a third deputation under which Britain again recognised the South African Republic as a fully independent state. Following the influx of thousands of predominantly British settlers with the Witwatersrand Gold Rush of 1886, uitlanders (literally out-landers, or foreigners) provided almost all of the South African Republic’s tax revenues, but lacked civic representation. The uitlander problem and the associated tensions with Britain dominated Kruger’s attention for the rest of his presidency, leading eventually to the Second Boer War of 1899-1902. Kruger left for Europe as the war turned against the Boers in 1900 and spent the rest of his life in exile, refusing to return home following the British victory. He died in Switzerland at the age of 78 in 1904. His first wife, Maria du Plessis, died in 1846; he then married Maria’s cousin, Gazina du Plessis, in 1847, who bore him seven daughters and nine sons, many of whom died in infancy. The Barnett brothers, David and Joseph, were photographers of early Johannesburg. Their collection of more than two thousand prints became a valuable and essential photographic record and resource of the emerging town and pioneering gold-mining initiatives. The Barnett collection includes significant holdings of the South African War (1899-1902).
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Untitled Gelatin silver print laid on card Circa 1940s Photograph by Herholdts This large bridal portrait was a gift from Gavin Rooke, who was taken by the surreal image of a bride on her wedding day - but no groom. All evidence of her partner has been removed in the darkroom, leaving only her outline as a ghostly Madonna-like figure. There is the hint of a man alongside - but whom? The groom? Her father? Perhaps she was deserted at the altar. Who knows... Garth Walker
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Chopi Woman Photogravure Circa 1928 Photograph by A M Duggan-Cronin Captioned on cover sheet: An excellent example of the Chopi type. On her neck she is wearing the common green beads of the country. Note the tattooing and keloid scars. on the face, from mount to ear, the track of saliva; from eye to ear, the track of tears; and just above the breast, the scar made for mourning. The keloid scars cover both the hypogastric and waist regions, which is probably pure Chopi usage of former times. The freshly made scars are first bathed with a decoction made from the leaves of the dordonea, three days later with another made from the momordica. Finally they are anointed by means of a feather dipped in mafureira oil. Leaves of the dordonea are also constantly placed on the sores during winter. The Chopi are tribal people found in southern Mozambique where they live a rural existence based on subsistence agriculture. Many Chopi were displaced or killed during the civil war following Mozambique’s liberation from Portuguese colonial rule in 1975. In addition, frequent drought forced many away from their homeland and into the nation’s cities in search of work. Alfred Martin Duggan-Cronin (1874-1954), an Irish-born South African photographer, undertook several photographic and collecting expeditions in southern Africa between 1919 and 1939, during which he documented people and rural life. It was while working in the mine compounds in Kimberly that Duggan-Cronin’s interest in ethnographic subjects was stimulated. In 1919 he undertook a major ethnographic expedition to photograph the San people - the first of many into the southern African interior. He travelled a total of 128 000km, over 18 expeditions, to photograph the peoples of southern Africa. A significant number of his photographs were published in eleven volumes as The Bantu Tribes of South Africa: Reproductions of Photographic Studies by A.M. Duggan-Cronin. His collection of about 8 000 photographs and ethnographic objects is housed in the Duggan-Cronin Gallery in Kimberley. See more here: http://www.southafrica.net/za/en/articles/entry/article-southafrica.net-duggan-cronin-gallery-kimberley
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Untitled Albumen print laid on album card Circa 1880 Photographer unknown Anonymous man from either Natal or the Zulu kingdom photographed shortly after the defeat of Zulu forces by the British army in 1879. He is dressed in the typical attire of a married man of this region, a cowhide flap covering the buttocks known as ibeshu (not visible) and a bunch of fur-rolls made from pelts of civet cat worn at the hip, known as isinene. A simple necklace of protective charms hangs around his neck, while his right earlobe is pierced and holds a snuff container. The shiny ring on his head is an isicoco, which denotes his rank and status as the married head of a homestead, or umnumzane. Far more than a simple indicator of marriage, such as a gold wedding band in Western culture, the isiscoco symobolised the important social, economic and even spiritual position held by the head of a household among the Zulu-speaking people of Natal and Zululand. As either the husband or father of everyone living in his homestead, or umuzi, the umnumzane had complete control over their lives and was responsible for all important decisions relating to the welfare of its inhabitants. He also performed important rituals and sacrificed animals to appease the ancestral spirits and protect the living. To wear an isicoco was a privilege granted by the king to the regiment in which a young warrior served, or in the case of those living in colonial Natal, his chief. Once permission was given to thunga (literally “sew”), unmarried men commenced preparations to marry, and an isicoco was stitched permanently into their hair. In the core of the headring was a piece of fibre, either a thin bundle of grass or a dried tendon cut from a slaughtered animal, and this was knitted into the hair around the crown of the scalp, then smeared with a mixture of clay and plant resin to give it a smooth, rounded appearance before being polished with beeswax. After the destruction of the Zulu kingdom the regimental system was abolished by the British and the custom of wearing an isicoco fell into disuse, and was actively discouraged by Christian missionaries. The word has been retained in Zulu and means “crown”, as worn by a king or queen. See more here: http://scnc.ukzn.ac.za/doc/SOC-cult/Black/Peoples/Zulus/Khumalo-V_Head_rings_or_top_hats_body_coverings_in_KZN.pdf