SURVIVING THE LENS

144pp. Illustrated profusely with b/w and sepia photographs. Pictorial b/w illustrated dust jacket, gray papered boards with silver text to spine, endpapers & title pages, comprehensive introductory essay, full & dbl. page photographs, bibliog., index.

Published by Fernwood Press in association with M. Stevenson and M. Graham-Stewart

Front dust jacket flap:

Historians, public galleries and collectors have in recent years started re-viewing photographs of African people taken during the colonial period for their aesthetic merits as well as their historical significance. However, the images that originated in south and east Africa, which are the focus of this book, have not received the same attention as those from west and central Africa. 

The fifty photographic portraits presented here have been selected from the authors' own collection and the majority of them have never been published before. Taken between 1870 and 1920, the period of high European imperialism in the region, these compelling images were crated in studios and in the field...

Mainly the work of Europeans living in Africa, the images chosen for inclusion in the title, reveal an enigmatic intensity and develop an unfolding poignancy with each viewing, offering a view of the humanity of the subjects that transcends the boundaries of history, class and culture.

Where possible the photographs are reproduced the same size as the originals and each is accompanied by a caption containing detailed information about the image. An introductory essay illustrated with full page details from the selected images discusses the changing approaches to historical photographs and the various complex factors that influenced their making.