Carol Hardijzer

Most photographers at the turn of the last century were upstanding and hard-working citizens, however, there is always the exception. This article is about one such exception, namely the photographer Maximillian Alfred Daubert who was based in towns such as Wakkerstroom, Reitz and Pietermaritzburg. Daubert who often clashed with the law, spent many months in local jails, due to various criminal transgressions.

Maximillian Alfred Daubert, was born in Braunschweig, Germany on 24 August 1865. His father was Heinrich Wilhelm Daubert and his mother Doretta Daubert (Nee Haacke). Alfred left Germany at the age of 23 and arrived in South Africa some time during 1888.

Photograph of Daubert, wife Alette (Nee Smit) and eldest son Heinrich (Circa 1912) taken by the photographer Jennings based in Vrede. Jennings was also active in Reitz where Daubert resided for a while.

Alfred Daubert initially moved around South Africa at regular intervals. It is possible that he was an assistant photographer at the studios of some more established photographers in the towns he visited before he finally settled in Wakkerstroom.

His movements were as follows:

• Kimberley between 1888 and 1889
• Johannesburg (Kerk & Harrison Street) between 1889...

Little recognition has been given to Henri Ferdinand Gros for his outstanding contribution to the South African photographic history between 1869 and 1890. No other photographer has contributed to the then Transvaal photographic history like Gros. Without the Gros photographs, we would not have had an idea of what Pretoria looked like between 1875 and 1890. Gros certainly had the insight to identify the value of pictorial documentation. His photographic technique also was nothing short of perfection for those days, considering that the art of commercial photography was hardly 30 years old by the time he started off as a photographer.

South Africa’s history is significantly younger than that of Europe. The town of Pretoria, was only proclaimed in 1855, some 16 years after the invention of photography.

Although Cowan (1978) has published a rather extensive article on this pioneer photographer, this article attempts to broaden the available information on this interesting yet secretive individual. Research into Gros was complicated due to the limited information available on him.

Henri Ferdinand Gros

Gros was born in Switzerland at Petit-Saconnex (today part of Geneva) on 7 May 1842. He was the youngest son to Louis Gros and Fanny Escoffey.

Even in Gros’s early years his restless nature and inclination to travel regularly became evident.

Gros was issued with a passport to travel to England via France on 20 June 1865. His profession indicated on the passport was that of bookkeeper. In an 1878 South African photographic newspaper advertisement, Gros indicated that he...

Photography is the only “language” that is understood worldwide, resulting in a bridge being created between nations and cultures – it connects the family of humanity. Independent of political influence – where people are free – it provides us with an honest reflection about life and events, allows us to share in the hope, joy and despair of others, and potentially lightens political and social burdens. This way we become witnesses, not only of humanity, but also of the brutality of human kind (Gernsheim as quoted in Sontag 1977).

Since the first war was photographed during 1846, photography and war have become inseparable. Any war photographed fills gaps in our perception around the events and occurrences surrounding it. It provides for an improved context.

South African photographs from the Anglo-Boer War, those that have survived, have become additions to our heritage.

Image of Boer Prisoners of War held at Diyatalawa Camp in Ceylon. What makes this image unusual is that the name of each of the 54 individuals on the image has been captured on the back of the photograph. Photograph was initially thought to have been taken at the Ragama camp. Originating format – unknown.

[[{"fid":"3528","view_mode":"media_adaptive","fields":{"format":"media_adaptive","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Unknown concentration camp. Carpenters. The table is clearly...

South African mining photographs from as early as 1870 have been identified. These early diamond surface mining activity photographs were taken by Weber & Sederstrom at New Rush (Kimberley). When gold was found in Johannesburg some 14 years later (1884), it was initially not difficult to mine as the gold was found near the surface and prospectors had many laborers to assist them with the digging.

But soon, miners found that they had to dig deeper and deeper to find the gold - 100 meters became a 1000 meters, or more, within a short period. This type of mining became known as deep-level mining.

Although deep-level mining was very expensive, dangerous and difficult, the introduction of the cyanide extraction process during 1890 made the recovery of gold excavated at these deeper levels economically more feasible.

Indications are that by the end of 1889, the Jubilee and Langlaagte mining companies had already sunk shafts for deep-level mining purposes.

Deep-level mining in turn resulted in a growing curiosity at both local and international level – People wanted to see what was happening down below – It had to be photographed!

The inscription suggests that this photo was taken at the State Mine. Men seem to be repairing an underground rail track

[[{"fid":"3476","view_mode":"media_adaptive","fields":{"format":"media_adaptive","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Attending to an injured mine worker at the Crown Mines. It is not clearly...

The first permanent photograph to have been recorded was taken by the Frenchman Niépce during 1826 (after an eight-hour exposure). A fellow countryman, Daguerre, perfected the capturing of a permanent image by inventing the first practical photographic process during 1839. This photographic end result became known as the Daguerreotype.

In South Africa, photographers have been commercially active since 1846, initially establishing themselves in the larger towns within the Cape, but soon moving into the smaller towns and other provinces. There were more than 230 photographers active in the Cape between 1846 and 1870 alone.

Photographs produced by South African based photographers on the extraordinary popular Carte-de-Visite have become of significant value from a historical and research perspective. They have become historical documents in their own right which need to be treasured in that much can be gleaned from these photographs with regard to our social and photographic history.

Danie du Toit – Editor of Patriot. An exceptional image due to the inclusion of the studio camera – Circa 1875

[[{"fid":"3433","view_mode":"media_adaptive","fields":{"format":"media_adaptive","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"A combination image unusual for that era -...

On a recent journey through the Karoo, the author obtained more than 1500 unusual photographic glass plates – just imagine the total weight of all these photographs.

This find is exceptional in every way, in that many years ago people destroyed these glass plates due to lack of appreciation in the historical value or simply due to them being damaged due to incorrect storage. To discover more than 1500 of these plates therefore creates huge excitement amongst researchers, especially because they seem to originate from a single photographic studio operating in South Africa between 1901 and 1910.

Local Karoo lads

Photographic studio activity of the Victorian and Edwardian eras makes for an interesting social and cultural study. Such studies are mainly enabled by obtaining original photographic material such as the original Carte-de-Visite or Cabinet format photographs or better still, the original glass plate (glass negative) from which these paper-based images were produced.

Glass plates were used in photography from 1850 onwards. Glass, because of its transparency, was used as a support for light-sensitive materials producing either a photographic positive image, such as in the Ambrotype, or photographic negatives such as Albumen, Collodion and Gelatin processes. These glass plates were coated with light-sensitive Silver Salts.

Glass plates were commercially available in standard sizes. During the twentieth century these glass plates were known as dry plates carrying gelatin emulsions...

Rarely are 19th century photographers as famous as their subjects. Sadly, in many instances, little is known about these creative artists who ventured into this art form – be they female or male photographers.

The purpose of this article is therefore to reflect on female photographers who were active in South Africa in this art form prior to 1915 as the majority of their work has largely gone unnoticed.

Women played a minor role in professional and leisure photography until the late 19th century. This has resulted in very few female photographers actually making a name for themselves since the invention of photography during 1827 up until the turn of the 20th century. This was an art form mainly practiced by men - even more so in South Africa due to its harsh environment (especially compared to Europe).

To date, some 1500 different photographers and/or studios, active in South Africa between 1846 and 1915, have been identified by Bensusan and the author. It is therefore not surprising that this research has identified less than 16 of these to date as being females who generated an income from photography.

Due to such low numbers of female photographers active in South Africa prior to 1915, not many of the images produced by them are freely available or have survived. The original images have therefore become difficult to find, resulting in their work being viewed as scarce and highly collectable.

Photography prior to 1900 was a demanding art, even more so for female photographers...

Photographs produced on thin iron sheets? Yes, indeed! And it was cheap, even cheaper than the equivalent middle-class, paper based Carte de Visite. Photos on these thin iron sheets were actually referred to as a ‘plebian photographic end result’.

From their origin in the 1850s until the end of the twentieth century and beyond, these photographs remained popular because they were so inexpensive.

These photographic images were initially called melainotype plates. Today they are either referred to as ferrotypes, or more commonly, tintypes. As the tintype was iron rather than tin, the name tintype is therefore a misnomer.

An example of a tintype photograph

Originating in France during 1854, the tintype was first patented in the USA during February 1856 and in England during December of the same year.

In the case of the tintype, the negative was made not of glass but a thin sheet of iron coated with an opaque black or chocolate-brown lacquer or enamel.

The lacquered sheet, which was commercially available, was coated with wet collodion containing silver salts just before exposure in the camera. Development immediately followed exposure. Later refinements led to the use of dry-collodion-coated metal plate.

The tintype was derived from another photographic format, the ambrotype. Like the ambrotype the tintype depended on the fact that...

Jannie Roggeband, a Dutch citizen, was a field ambulance volunteer during the Anglo Boar War (1899-1902). Roggeband had a powerful accolade published in the Ficksburg community newspaper on 4 January 1923, a few days after the death of General George Alfred Brand (10 February 1875 – 24 December 1922). General Brand, one of President and Lady Brand’s 11 children, passed away at the young age of 47. A family photograph circa 1882, in the author’s collection, shows George and his older siblings, 7 of which were boys.

As a collector and researcher of Anglo Boer war related images, the author, on occasions, finds absolute gems where a letter or newspaper clipping is found with a photograph that relates to the “sitter” (person in the photograph), who was either a participant in the Boer War or simply a citizen caught up in the war.

Photographs in themselves tell stories, but to find the Roggeband photograph with a newspaper clipping certainly provides insight into the personalities as well as the nature of the relationships between various parties during the war (sometimes opposing parties).

Based on the author’s research, Jannie Roggeband has not been identified or named as a Dutch Volunteer in any previous research conducted. No mention, for example, is made of him in the recently published book by Chris Schoeman on the Dutch involved in South Africa during that era (Brothers in Arms: Hollanders in the Anglo Boer War).

This article not only reflects on the personality of Brand...

As a collector and researcher of Anglo Boer war related images the author, on occasions, finds original letters or newspaper clippings that relate to the “sitter” (person in the photograph) who was either a participant in the Boer War or simply a citizen caught up in the war.

Photographs in themselves tell stories, but to find personal letters either written by, or addressed to, the sitter enriches the story. The author feels compelled to record some of these personal stories – like this one:

Lieutenant Andrew Meikle, a British soldier, clearly had some dealings with Commandant Brand’s bride to be during the war. Andrew, on reading about her marriage to Brand (General at that stage), writes a letter, dated 19 January 1904, to the new Mrs. Brand reflecting on some of their interactions during the war.

It has been suggested that Mrs. George Alfred Brand, a Miss van der Merwe prior to her marriage to George Alfred Brand (1875 – 1922), walked away from the Bethulie camp and joined a nursing unit where she has been referred to as an angel sent, nursing the ill and wounded – friend and enemy alike.

The letter to her reads as follows:

My dear Mrs. Brand

It was with a great amount of pleasure, that I received the announcement of your marriage, and I am sure that no one will wish you more happiness and prosperity that I do.

I am afraid my small amount of Taal will not enable me to read...