Women and photography in apartheid South Africa

Abstract

"This study examines the representation of women in the field of photography in South Africa in the second half of the twentieth century. Chapters trace the lives and works of five women photographers in four case studies. All of them are critically understudied, meaning that no scholarship focusing solely on their photographic work exists. The book focuses on the representation of women on two different levels: as agents, behind the camera, and as subjects, in photographs. It showcases women photographers portraying their female contemporaries and analyses to what extent they adhered to or subverted common forms of gender representation. In recuperating their forgotten archives, the book argues that none of these women are marginal figures, but rather that each of them played a leading role in the field of photography in their own time. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, history of photography, gender studies, and African studies"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents

'Africa's first woman press photographer' : Mabel Cetu's photographs in Zonk! -- An intimate lens : Jansje Wissema and the recognition of photography as art in South Africa -- The gendered politics of visibility : struggle photography, Afrapix and Lesley Lawson's working women -- Questions of authorship and attribution : on the photographic practice of Mavis Mtandeki and Primrose Talakumeni.