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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South Africa
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 2000
A crowd passes by a guarded building.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 2000
A woman and her daughter in conservative dress walk through town.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1999
A woman collects water from a communal tap in the Qwaqwa homeland. Under apartheid, homelands or 'bantustans' were areas reserved for the black population of South Africa.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1999
Women weaving baskets on which fish are dried.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1999
Women weaving baskets on which fish are dried.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1998
Himba woman in traditional dress, Epupa Falls.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1997
A women dressed in traditional costume dances in celebration of a CONTRALESA chief taking a seat in parliament.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1997
A Hutu woman and her children cover up a corpse.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1992
A Red Cross worker visits families to determine the requirements for the distribution of food relief.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1989
Women of the Herero tribe supporting the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA).
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1989
Himba women supporting the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA).
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1989
A Himba woman in traditional dress supporting the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA).
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1988
Dancing the 'Ontano', May Day rally, Katutura.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1988
Marietta Kruger announces, on television, the signing of the Tripartite agreement between Angola, Cuba and South Africa.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1988
Pillars of salt. Local women watch as soldiers of the 101st Battalion leave their base on patrol.
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 1987
A woman earns R3.50 a day building toilets in the rural settlement of Botshabelo.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1986
Mourners at the funeral of late Mozambican president, Samora Machel.
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
Launch of the South African Domestic Workers' Union (SADWU).
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
The wife of the king of Ondonga, Immanuel Kauluma Elifas of Ondonga, shows the remains of her pantry after a firefight between South African Defence Force (SADF) soldiers and People's …
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1986
Mourners queue at Maputo city hall to pay their last respects to late Mozambican president, Samora Machel.
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
Mourners leave the Maputo city hall where the body of late Mozambican president, Samora Machel, is lying in state.
UCT: University of Cape Town · 1 October 1986
Newly elected Mozambican president, Joaquim Chissano, greets jubilant FRELIMO government supporters after his presidential inauguration.
A member of the 203rd Bushman Battalion (originally the 36th Bushman Battalion) and his dependents.
Female FRELIMO supporters mourning the death of late Mozambican president, Samora Machel.
The former Ministry of Finance building, now inhabited by refugees who have fled the fighting in the Angolan countryside.
People cover their faces to avoid the smell of the mass graves.
An old man suffering from Tuberculosis (TB) sits on the floor of his hut.
Women from Crossroads informal settlement protest outside parliament.
Female mourners leave the funeral of late Mozambican president, Samora Machel, outside Maputo city hall.
People looking for shelter from a dust storm in Kuito, Angola.
Female FRELIMO supporters holding a placard and mourning the death of late Mozambican president, Samora Machel.
A Himba woman in traditional dress cooking outside her hut.
A woman carries chickens to sell at the small market in Kuito, Angola.
A crowd holding placards and mourning the death of late Mozambican president, Samora Machel.
A Himba woman and her two children pictured in traditional dress.
A Himba woman and her two children pictured in traditional dress.
A mother and her children stand inside the doorway of their house.
Isobel Diolino teaches school children in a roofless primary school.
