Enwezor, and its accompanying catalogue, were
especially important in bringing awareness of Afri-
canphotography,art,andpoliticalhistorytoawider
public. Thanks to these and other efforts, significant
research has been published pertaining to photogra-
phersandpracticesinWestAfrica,andawidevariety
of sources can be found on different genres of photo-
graphy in South Africa, including recent photo-
graphic festivals. A smattering of research also
covers East Africa, Central Africa, and the islands
of the Indian Ocean. Although traditionally consid-
eredseparatefromsub-SaharanAfricainAfricanart
and anthropology, some research exists on North
Africa as well.
At the same time that photography by Africans is
coming to widespread public attention in the West,
revisionist histories that critically examine photo-
graphs taken by Europeans and Americans of Afri-
cans for anthropological and ethnographic purposes
are cropping up as exhibitions and books. Such texts
use post-colonial and feminist methodologies to
analyze and re-situate these photographs, many of
which are still in circulation, in the discourses of
African art, history, and anthropology, within an
understanding of European racism and the
hierarchical classificatory systems it generated.
By 1900 colonial rule was strongly established in
most African nations, and this vast attempt to
reorganize and control African societies and land
for European profit was often documented and
celebrated by the colonizers through photographs
that today appear horrifying in their casual accep-
tance of European brutalities. Sometimes these
photographs fostered nascent European anti-colo-
nialism and reform movements through their dis-
semination to sympathetic activists. For example,
photographs that documented the abuses perpe-
trated by King Leopold II of Belgium in Congo
Free State (now Democratic Republic of the Congo
[DRC]) led to widespread condemnation of his
behavior in Europe and the United States. As a
result, in 1908 the Belgian Parliament annexed
Congo Free State, ending the worst of the atroci-
ties. This early example of the use of photojourn-
alism in the fight against colonialism recurred in
many countries during the independence struggles
of the 1960s, and as late as the 1990s in South
Africa, whose rule of apartheid ended in 1994.
The racist political system of apartheid contrib-
uted to South Africa’s unique position in the his-
tory of African photography. Photographs by
white South Africans followed the general trend
of European photography, but with less interest
in radical artistic innovation. Portrait photography
became popular among all races, as elsewhere in
Africa. However, it is the photography ofDrum,a
popular magazine pitched to black South African
life, which has become particularly well-known
today for its quality photojournalism as well as its
promotion of black self-representation.
Originally aimed toward a European conception
of a ‘‘tribal’’ audience,Drumwas published in 1951
asThe African Drum, but failed after three issues.
After a change in ownership and attitude,Drum
quickly became a hugely popular magazine depict-
ing the lifestyles, newsworthy events, and social
concerns of black South Africans.Drum’s celebra-
tory appreciation of township life and investigative
reports into socio-political situations provided
black South Africans with visual representations
of their lives; under the regime of apartheid,
Drum’s presence was profoundly political. Al-
thoughDrumwas unable to overtly protest con-
ditions in South Africa, the magazine’s journalists
and photographers pushed the constraints of cen-
sorship when possible. For example,Drumserially
published Alan Paton’s novel, Cry the Beloved
Country(1948), which describes the clash between
a black minister and a racist white farmer. However,
Drum’s owner Jim Bailey refused to publish British
photo-journalist Ian Berry’s shots of the 1960 Shar-
peville massacre; when Berry sent the prints to Lon-
don instead, international outrage erupted.
Drum also contributed to the evolution of a
Pan-African sensibility, as offices were eventually
opened across sub-Saharan Africa. The first office
was opened in Nigeria in 1953 and the second in
Ghana a year later. An East African office was
established in 1957, and the last office opened in
Central Africa in 1966.Drumreported on politi-
cal events outside of South Africa, documenting
Nigeria’s independence, for example, and the
initial meetings of the alliance of the West Afri-
can Federation.
Aside from photojournalism, many countries
established governmental photo agencies either
during colonialism or after independence. Congo-
presse in DRC was one such colonialist organ.
Agencies in Madagascar, Angola, and Guinea
were introduced under colonialism and changed
names and structures after independence. Other
post-colonial agencies based on former colonialist
organizations include AMAP in Mali and ONI-
CEP in Nigeria. The archives for some of these
official agencies are not publicly available; for
example, Seydou Keı ̈ta’s work for the government
of Mali has not been released. The types of photo-
graphy these organizations practiced varied;
although most were political, Madagascar’s SGM
used photography for military and geographic pur-AFRICA: AN OVERVIEW, PHOTOGRAPHY IN