Ethno-photography

Philaphotographologist – what a highfalutin word! The word does not actually exist. Rackham (2022) applied his creativity and constructed the word following some discussion on the internet.

Personally, I rather like the word. It did take  me a minute or two to get my tongue around the pronunciation though (feela-foto-grafologist).

Rackham (2022) constructed the word as follows: Phila (to love), derived from French, followed by the two Greek words phōtós (light) and graphê (drawing) and concluding with the Latin word logia (branch of knowledge).

The word philaphotographologist translates into more understandable language, namely photograph enthusiast or photograph collector. That is what this article is about, an early South African photo enthusiast.

As a psychologist, I am intrigued by the visual orientation, or the lack thereof, in the human race.

Some of us are more inclined to a heightened visual curiosity compared to others. Those of us who have a lower level of aesthetic visual appreciation will be less inclined to give much attention to visual imagery, in this instance photographs, whilst to the visually curious, photographs provide visual stimulation.

In my mind, a person has to be visually curious to be referred to as a photo enthusiast, or a philaphotographologist for that matter.

One such person was Frederick William Willis. British-born, he became a South African citizen, initially attached to the South African Constabulary.

He loved photographs – so much so that he passionately constructed photo albums containing various themes.

I was privileged enough to get my hands on two...

This article reflects on the influence of South African ethno-photographs on the picture postcard industry together with a reflection on their individual histories.

Most picture postcards at the turn of the 19th century had a strong photographic theme where publishers of the picture postcard relied on the original photograph for commercial purposes.

Whilst picture postcards produced an almost endless line of visual themes, this article focuses purely on photographs taken of our very own people at the turn of the 19th century, which were then produced into a commercial end-product, namely the picture postcard.

Photographs, as produced on these picture postcards cards, are original images that today play a primary role in our history, both at a visual as well as cultural historical level. In a South African context, these images have sadly not received the attention they deserve.

The visual evidence, as presented on these cards, is not based on any hearsay but rather undeniable visual evidence which was produced first hand while events and changes in society were unfolding during the turn of the 19th century. Today, these miniature historical records of life at the time, provide us with a rich reflection on our own ethnic/cultural history.

Most picture postcards would have publisher details imprinted on them but sadly photographers responsible for capturing the original images are largely unknown today.

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