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Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
South Africa Souvenir Album, EEPA 1992-007, 1898
Summary
- Collection ID:
- EEPA.1992-007
- Creators:
-
Mittlebrook, J.E.
- Dates:
-
1898
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
50 Platinum prints1 albumblack & white20 x 26 cm50 Photographic printsdupe prints (1 v.)black & white8 x 10 in.50 Photographic printsblack & white4 x 5 in.
- Repository:
- Container:
- 5011
Fifty photographs taken by J.E. Mittlebrook and published by D'Urban and Kimberley in 1898 in an album entitled,
South African Souvenir.
Arrangement note
Arrangement note
Images indexed by negative number. The fifty-two platinotypes are arranged by the photographer following the itinerary of a route from Capetown up the eastern coast of South Africa, through Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown, and East London, to Durban, and Pietermaritzburg, and provide views of the churches, parks, harbors, and main streets of these cities. Also included is a portrait of a Zulu boy, wearing animal horns on his head, with his rickshaw. Continuing up the coast into what is now Mozambique, Middlebrook photographs Delagoa Bay, and the towns of Inhambane, Beira, Chinde, at the mouth of the Zambezi River, and Quelimane. As he crosses west into the Matoppo Hills towards Bulawayo, he records "Mr. Rhodes' Farm Buildings," with a photo of "C.J.R."--Cecil Rhodes--in the entrance of one of his conical "huts". Shots of Kimberley include a bird's eye view of the city from the De Beers Floors, and the Kimberley Sanitorium built by Rhodes. In Johannesburg, Middlebrook records a bird's eye view of the city, the imposing new post office, Commissioner and Pritchard Streets, Joubert Park, the vast produce market, and processing buildings of the Randt Gold Mining Companies. There are also views of Pretoria--including a scene of "Naachtmaal," when Boer farmers and families come to town for church services, and camp out in the town square--and the hills near Barberton, where Sheba G.M. Company mines quartz. Seven of the photographs portray native people, such as Chief Khama of the Batlapins, well-known for his friendship with Livingstone; Zulu men wearing head gear of rickshaw pullers in Durban; Zulu families in front of their homes in Natal, Zululand; an Amaxosa family in Cape Colony (Cape of Good Hope); a Matabele cane seller; a woman from Swaziland in native garb; and an east coast man, known as a Zanzibaree. The final two photographs are steamships: U[nion] S[steam] S[hip] Company's "Briton"; and C[astle] M[ail] P[ackets] Company's "Carisbrook Castle."
Administration
Author
Paul Wood
Custodial History note
Purchased, 1992. Conserved through a preservation grant funded by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee, 2006.
The album was the second edition.
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Conditions Governing Access note
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Keywords
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
National Museum of African Art
P.O. Box 37012
MRC 708
Washington, DC 20013-7012
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-4690
Fax Number: Fax: 202-357-4879
elisofonarchives@si.edu