The University of Cape Town Photographs and Images Collection
University of Cape Town
The photographic archive in Special Collections has material that spans a period from the inception of photography to the present day, from fragile prints to digital format. Fox Talbot’s Pencil of Nature is a rare body of work that found its way to the African continent. Many of the early photographs are of Cape Town and its surrounds, reflecting its architecture, environment, and the city’s early development. There is also a considerable archive reflecting UCT’s memory and history. The archive houses social history and anthropology collections of Bleek and Lloyd, Hunter-Wilson and Martin West. New material from the 1950s to contemporary times includes the archives of Jürgen Schadeberg and Ernest Cole. Other seminal collections complement the early historic images: The Cordoned Heart, an investigation into poverty and development; Beyond the Barricades, an anthology documenting resistance to apartheid; the Staffrider exhibitions; as well as photographers such as Guy Tillim, Greg Marinovich, Cedric Nunn, George Hallett, Paul Grendon, Chris Ledochowski, Graeme Williams, and others. We are also engaged in projects that aim to keep the archive alive and in conversation with the South African heritage and memory: Underexposed is a collection of highly significant but off-the-radar photographers; The Other Camera is an anthology of vernacular photography; while the Ernest Cole Award supports contemporary South African photography.
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UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1951
Ditch-workers in Johannesburg, pounding rhythmically and singing, 1951.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1951
Birth of a baby, Sophiatown, 1951.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1951
Alexandra, a township north of Johannesburg, was surrounded by open country and farms where cows were often entertained by lonely brass band players rehearsing a tune. Alexandra township, 1951.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1951
Makeshift houses in Orlando squatter camp, outside Johannesburg, 1951.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1951
Friday nights with Vy Nkosi, Sophiatown, 1951. Popular trombonist Vy Nkosi "rocked tremors into the bowels of the earth" from the 1940s to the 1950s.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1951
Nelson Mandela, at the annual African National Congress (ANC) conference in Bloemfontein, where the Defiance Campaign was conceived and planned, 1951.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1951
Makeshift houses in Orlando squatter camp, outside Johannesburg, 1951.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1952
There were dance halls throughout South Africa, from Orlando to Mamelodi, and to Sophiatown. The stages were often improvised and there was real sound, without microphones and amplifiers. Sophiatown, 1952.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1952
Visit to a farm, Muldersdrift, 1952.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1952
Drum office, Johannesburg, 1952.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1952
Women of the African National Congress (ANC) in Johannesburg participating in the Defiance Campaign, 1952.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1952
The only record of Nelson Mandela in his law office, which he shared with Oliver Tambo, Johannesburg, 1952.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1952
There were dance halls throughout South Africa, from Orlando to Mamelodi, and to Sophiatown. The stages were often improvised and there was real sound, without microphones and amplifiers. Sophiatown, 1952.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1952
South Africans such as Lena Horn, Satchmo, The American Inkspots and The Mills Brothers adapted entertainment ideas from Harlem and New Orleans, adding their own unique African flavour. Johannesburg, 1952
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1952
Ntemi Piliso, a major force on the local music scene in the fifties, formed his own hot-and-happening Alexandra All-Star Band. Johannesburg, 1952.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1952
Priscillia Mtimkulu, making herself up during a photo shoot. Described by Can Themba as, "sweet and twenty...this lovely has fluttered in from Orlando East like a butterfly...you can see her …
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1952
The Gay Gaieties came from Orlando and danced and sang in the music and dance halls along the Reef, all five loved by all. Orlando, 1952.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1952
The Ritz, downtown Johannesburg, was the place to go for a jive come Friday night. The Johannesburg townships expressed all the vigour and optimism of the new post-war generation with …
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1952
Taking a smoke-break during a shoot for Drum magazine, 1952.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1953
Model with an umbrella during a photo shoot for Drum magazine, 1953.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1953
A man boxing, Sophiatown, 1953.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1953
Apartheid: a fence divides black people from white people at the races, Johannesburg, 1953.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1953
Benni Banjo, also known as 'Gwigwi', was a multi-talented clarinet and alto saxophone player, band-leader, showman and clown. Gwigwi was leader of the Harlem Swingsters in the 1950s. Johannesburg, 1953.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1953
Boxing in Sophiatown, 1953.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1953
"We three the Jazz dizzlers be..." The popular Jazzolomos rocked the Reef in the fifties. Band members were from left: Jacob 'Mzala' Lepers (bass), Sol 'Beegeepee' Klaaste (piano) and Benni …
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1953
A man hones his boxing skills using a punching bag, Sophiatown, 1953.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1953
Lighting up a cigarette, Johannesburg, 1953.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1953
Learning the Cuckoo call, Sophiatown, 1953.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1954
The midnight kids, Sophiatown, 1954.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1954
A dive and a frame-up, 1954.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1954
Lemmy 'Special' Mabaso and his three brothers entertaining city dwellers, Johannesburg, 1954. Throughout the city there were sounds of pennywhistlers and guitars and the pennies rained onto the pavement.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1955
Balancing act, Sophiatown, 1955. Writers, musicians, politicians and journalists lived side-by-side with gangsters, shebeen queens, and Sophia bohemians, like the one pictured here.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1955
Model and singer, Ruth Molefi, described by Todd Matshikiza as, "A cute, fashion-conscious, little dame, sizzling with appeal." Johannesburg, 1955.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1955
Miriam Makeba posing for a cover photograph in a recording studio in downtown Johannesburg, 1955. One of the leading songbirds of the 1950s, she left South Africa in the early …
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1955
Dolly Rathebe, Blues queen and film star, Johannesburg, 1955.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1955
In 1954 the apartheid government was determined to demolish Sophiatown, the multi-racial suburb of Johannesburg. The African National Congress (ANC), encouraged by Mandela, campaigned vigorously to resist, pictured here saying, …
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1956
A prison van brings prisoners to Drill Hall for the Treason Trial, Johannesburg, 1956.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1956
Christina Baloyi with her pass, Johannesburg, 1956.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1957
Standing for human rights, outside the City Hall, Johannesburg, 1957. The Black Sash, an organisation of women against apartheid laws, demostrated, often on a daily basis, in front of Johannesburg …
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1958
Sol Rachilo, actor and entrepreneur, posing for a promotional pamphlet for Drum, the first magazine in South Africa that featured black cover-girls. Johannesburg, 1958.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1958
On 13 October 1958, Moses Kotane and Nelson Mandela leave the Pretoria Court beaming with joy as the Crown had withdrawn their treason charges. However, on 19 January 1959, Nelson …
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1959
By 1959 most of the houses in Sophiatown had disappeared. Big machines and men with picks beat down the last walls of Sophiatown.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1959
The Sophiatown removals saw homes demolished and people moved into 'matchbox' houses in Meadowlands, Soweto. This was the first of the major forced removals by the apartheid government. Sophiatown, 1959.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1959
Many betting shops were to be found in old Johannesburg. Horse-racing was one of the oldest established sports in the city. 1959.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1959
A woman and her child walk over rubble left behind after the Sophiatown removals, 1959.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1960
Pop fans looking up to their idol, Cliff Richard, during his visit to South Africa, 1960.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1960
The annual Durban July horse race was the highlight of the social calendar, Durban, 1960.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1963
Nick Moyake, a jazz saxophonist is photographed while resting at Dorkay House, Johannesburg, South Africa.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1963
Jazz musicians, Blythe Mbityana with Dalton Khanyile, play a duet in Johannesburg, South Africa.