Once a house of late Victorian, early Edwardian architecture stood on the corner of St. Matthews and Belgrave Roads – but where?
This house, with its gables and bay window, captures the architectural essence of the era, where deep, wrap-around verandas were essential for the South African climate.
This is the only provenance we have on a photograph album dating from the mid to late 1910s, filled to the brim, containing photographs of the interior of the house and its’ early occupants - nothing else.
Google Maps soon confirmed that this house, today a double storey unit, was based in East London (KuGompo City today), Belgravia. The current building standing on the premises shows no remanence to the original house built some 120 years ago.
Larger East London homes were established in residential suburbs like Belgravia and Southernwood by the early 20th century.
The house, and its occupants, were proudly and meticulously photographed by the early female occupant. How do we know this? She was caught in the act doing so!
There she stood in her corseted dress and laced cuffs in the bedroom, clearly in deep concentration, operating her Kodak camera mounted on a tripod, and in doing so inadvertently capturing her own reflection in the mirror.
The camera used seems to be a Kodak Folding Pocket Camera manufactured between 1905 and 1915. In this image, she is clearly relying on a shutter release cable (in her left hand) whilst seemingly holding a timer in her right hand.
George Eastman would have been proud. In the earlier years of photography, the art form remained a male dominated activity. Within the expanding market of photography, Eastman Kodak needed a human figure to embody the promise of easy, pleasurable picture taking, resulting in the marketing focus on The Kodak Girl who was later portrayed in advertising campaigns as the lady in the striped dress.
The Kodak Girl appeared as early as the 1890s in American and European advertising (and later in South Africa) as a young, stylish woman whose portable camera signalled both technological modernity and social freedom. In early campaigns, she often moved through outdoor or travel settings like parks, beaches, world’s fairs, alone or with other women, rarely accompanied by men, which aligned her with the “New Woman” who was mobile, independent, and leisure oriented (Mitra, 2026).
The figure of the Kodak Girl represented several things. She made cameras seem unintimidating by suggesting that photography required no special strength, technical mastery, or masculine expertise. Her youth and femininity softened the face of a powerful corporation (Kodak), turning a global manufacturing and distribution machine into something intimate and friendly (Mitra, 2026).
Back to the photo album. A number of questions remain unanswered – at least for now.
Who were the owners of the house at the time? This could potentially be determined by tracing the original title deeds.
What was the occupation of the male resident? Given some of the photographs captured in his study, there are hints that he may have been an architect.
Another burning question is, who developed the film? Was it her or her husband, or was the film developed at a chemist or Kodak outlet?
It was a fairly uncommon approach to photograph the interior of a home in the early 20th century, which makes photographic finds such as these unique. These images provide a sense as to how the owner’s chose to decorate their homes and what type of furniture or luxuries they could afford.
The female photographer did not merely take "snaps." To her, the house was her pride and joy, a visual testament of her place in the world – one which she documented with the precision of an architect. Although many of her photographs turned out to be overwhelmed by sun light entering the house, we still get the essence of what the interior of the house looked like.
She probably found a strange, quiet thrill in capturing the stillness of the dust motes dancing in the light, fixing the fleeting domesticity of their living arrangements on film.
First the exterior of the house was photographed before she began systematically photographing the interior, starting at the entrance hall working her way through the house with its multiple rooms.
She must have spent time adjusting and positioning items before capturing each image. The photographs were not captured in a single day in that a change of music sheets on the piano can be seen from one photograph to the next.
Her husband also had to be captured in his study whilst at work. Her challenge throughout was not only the light beaming in from the windows, but also the wooden furniture—dark, deep, and prone to swallowing light. She no doubt, positioned her tripod with agonizing care for each “shot,” ensuring the lens caught the essence of the place she called home.
The couple that resided in the house, were grandparents – this can be seen in an image of the couple posing with their daughter and son-in-law. Later images show a child’s pram and a child on a rocking horse.
Yet the key question remains - Who was the photographer?
Main image left: The corner house on Belgrave and St. Matthews Roads in East London. It was the interior of this house that was diligently recorded by the female occupant (or her daughter) during the mid-1910s. Note the unknown male occupant on the left looking at the photographer.
Main image right: Part of the veranda with the pet dog looking on. The poles seem to be made of cast-iron. The family clearly were dog-lovers in that a number of picture portraits featuring dogs are seen hanging in the house.
About the author: Carol is passionate about South African Photographica – anything and everything to do with the history of photography. He not only collects anything relating to photography, but also extensively conducts research in this field. He has published a variety of articles on this topic and assisted a publisher and fellow researchers in the field. Of particular interest to Carol are historical South African photographs. He is conducting research on South African based photographers from before 1910. Carol has one of the largest private photographic collections in South Africa.
Sources
- Hardijzer Photographic Research Collection – Photo album curated in the research collection
- Mitra, A. (2026). The rise and brief history of the kodak girl (extracted June 2026 -www.museocamera.org)