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.
Flag this collection
South Africa
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.