Photographs

‘... I hope my photographs will show that a deep-rooted resistance movement against apartheid has always existed and continues to exist in South Africa; that this movement has well-considered directions and objectives; and that at every stage of its development it has had, and continues to have, the loyal and enthusiastic support of the majority of South Africans.’ Eli Weinberg, 1978

The photographic library consists of approximately 30 000 negatives, 80 000 prints and 4 000 transparencies. It documents South African history from colonial occupation to the present with a specific focus on life under apartheid, and resistance to it. The subjects covered include history of colonialism; history of apartheid; images of apartheid; liberation movements; forced removals and resettlement; repression; political prisoners; trials; labour and trade unions; women; culture; education; armed struggle; personalities.

The Archive is the largest and most comprehensive of its kind. It was built up by the London-based IDAF, which was the nerve centre of the international anti-apartheid information campaign from the 1960s, and its photographs have been used in countless publications and productions over the past three decades.

• The Eli Weinberg collection, which consists of the work of an outstanding photographer and activist who documented the struggle against apartheid from the 1940s to the 1970s. Almost 2 000 negatives cover all the major events, campaigns and personalities of this period.
• The Leon Levson collection, which is an incisive document on social conditions in South Africa from the 1940s to the 1960s. Almost 3 000 negatives give unusual insight into African rural and urban life in this period.
• A collection of approximately 2 000 prints, which chronicles the history and campaigns of the African National Congress and the broad liberation movement from the 1920s to the present.
• Extensive material on the mass mobilisation and uprisings of the 1980s as well as the international campaigns against apartheid, including the collections of the South and Grassroots newspapers.
• A collection of approximately 3 500 colour transparencies.
• Various individual collections, including those of internationally recognised photographers such as Tony McGrath, John Seymour and Billy Paddock and political figures such as Brian Bunting and Archbishop Trevor Huddleston.

The photographic library is geared to network with community groups and social documentary photographers in the hope of starting co-operative projects and enriching the core collection. Photographic material is available for editorial reproduction at commercial rates, with some reductions for community and non-commercial publications.