Picturing a Colonial Past

John L. Comaroff

ISBN 10: 0226114120 / ISBN 13: 9780226114125

Published by The University of Chicago Press, US, 2007

About this Item

This volume presents for the first time the selected photographs of renowned British anthropologist Isaac Schapera (1905-2003). Taken between 1929 and 1934, largely during his earliest work among the Kgatla peoples of Bechuanaland (now Botswana), the images in this selection reveal an emotional engagement and aesthetic impulse that Schapera seldom expressed in his writings. Covering a broad spectrum of daily activities, they include depictions of everything from pot making, thatching, and cattle herding to village architecture, vernacular medicine, and rainmaking ceremonies. Visually fascinating and of exceptional quality, these images capture the uniqueness of an African people in a particular time and place. They are contexualized and their significance explained in Jean and John Comaroff's insightful introduction, while Adam Kuper's illuminating biographical sketch of Schapera provides new insight into the life of the photographer. "Picturing a Colonial Past" reveals not only a rare side of old Botswana, but also of one of the most famous anthropologists to ever work there.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780226114125

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Picturing a Colonial Past
• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press, US
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226114120
• ISBN 13: 9780226114125
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 709 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This volume presents for the first time the selected photographs of the renowned British anthropologist Isaac Schapera (1905–2003). Taken between 1929 and 1934, largely during his earliest work among the Kgatla peoples of Bechuanaland (now Botswana), the 136 images in this selection reveal an emotional engagement and aesthetic impulse that Schapera seldom expressed in his writings. Covering a broad spectrum of daily activities, they include depictions of everything from pot making, thatching, and cattle herding to village architecture, vernacular medicine, and rainmaking ceremonies. Visually fascinating and of exceptional quality, these images capture the uniqueness of an African people in a particular time and place. They are contexualized and their significance explained in Jean and John Comaroff’s insightful introduction, while Adam Kuper’s illuminating biographical sketch of Schapera provides new insight into the life of the photographer. Picturing a Colonial Past reveals not only a rare side of old Botswana, but also of one of the most famous anthropologist who worked there.

About the Authors

John L. Comaroff is the Hugh K. Foster Professor of African and African American Studies and of Anthropology and an Oppenheimer Fellow in African Studies at Harvard University. He is also an Affiliated Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation. For more information, please visit https://www.johncomaroff.com/.

Jean Comaroff is the Alfred North Whitehead Professor of African and African American Studies and of Anthropology and an Oppenheimer Fellow in African Studies at Harvard University. For more information, visit https://www.jeancomaroff.com/.
 

Deborah James is reader in the Department of Anthropology and member of the Center for the Study of Human Rights at the London School of Economics.