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 1996
Children bathe in the Coppername River.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1995
Children stand outside the ruins of an apartment block.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1992
A herd boy and his dog rest after taking a herd to a sale that did not happen.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1989
Children kneeling in the foreground, a South African army tank in the background.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1989
A child learns to shoot a gun at a training camp run by the Afrikaner-Weerstandsbeweging (AWB).
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1989
""Open the beaches"" protest. This protest was a reaction to the Separate Amenities Act of 1953, which declared that people of colour were not to use the same public facilities …
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1989
""Open the beaches"" protest. This protest was a reaction to the Separate Amenities Act of 1953, which declared that people of colour were not to use the same public facilities …
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1989
Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) supporters.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1988
Gymnastic display on the Kavango River.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1988
Off-duty Koevoet operative based at Arendsnes with family, Joosfontein. Koevoet is the common name of the South West African Police Counter-Insurgency Unit (SWAPOL-COIN).
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1988
Herders meet with the crew of an Olifant tank, Ombalantu.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1986
A mother and child search for their belongings after their house was burnt down by 'witdoeke' (vigilantes)
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1986
A resident salvages material from an informal settlement raided by 'witdoeke' (vigilantes).
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1986
Child with remnants of a gun battle in a mahangu (millet) field.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1986
A mother and child search for their belongings after their house was burnt down by 'witdoeke' (vigilantes).
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1986
Funeral for six members of 'The Gugulethu Seven'. 'The Gugulethu Seven' were members of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe ('MK'), who died at the hands of apartheid security …