Re-tracing representations and identities in twentieth century South African and African photography: Joseph Denfield, regimes of seeing and alternative visual histories

The thesis examines the photographic collection of Joseph Denfield, an archivist and historian who experimented with photography over a twenty-year period. The study is located within the field of critical visual studies that focuses on historical photography in its depiction of identities and groups in the context of social change. The thesis pays attention to the manner and extent to which Denfield participated in regional visual economies at various moments during his photographic career in order to establish his contribution towards a visual history in Africa and more broadly Southern Africa. It follows Denfield’s career trajectory chronologically. It begins with a study of his photographic work in Nigeria which was oriented around so-called ‘pagan tribes’ and which was framed within the discourse of ethnography. It then pays attention to his growth as an artist in photography that resulted from years of exhibiting in salons. I read these photographs and texts in relation to his earlier work in Nigeria given the extent to which he drew on anthropological discourses. It is through his involvement with photographic art circles that Denfield developed as a historian as a result of his research into the history of photography and regional visual histories. This took the form of both unearthing historical photographs as well as photographing historical sites to construct the past in particular ways through the visual. At each stage he translated these histories into public forms of representation and power thus he figures among a small group of ‘colonial’ photographers that shaped the visual economy of Southern Africa. Through a detailed study of his work, the thesis thus aims to re-think through new dimensions of visual culture

'Re la Tsoantso' ('Father of the pictures'): Joseph Denfield's photography, 1944-1965

This article explores the photographic work of Joseph Denfield, a medical doctor who rose to prominence as an amateur photographer and public intellectual in South Africa in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It focuses on the manner in which and the extent to which Denfield participated in regional visual economies at different points in his career in order to establish his contribution towards visual histories in Southern Africa. Denfield experimented with various photographic genres, from ethnographic to pictorial work, which was widely circulated in salon exhibitions. Through a close reading of his photographs and writings relating in successive phases to his work in Northern Nigeria, Basutoland and East London, the article seeks to explore the wider frames of colonial photographic practice and their implications for creating alternative histories. Related to this is a reading of his photographs that he took at different stages against one another to figure out their shared visual grammar. This helps to deepen understandings around various genres of photography and to ask questions not simply about what historical photographs represent, but to interrogate how and why photographers did what they did

Introduction: Blurring Boundaries

This chapter introduces the section on blurring boundaries in research. The chapters within this section unpack the ethical dilemmas that researchers negotiate when they find themselves stepping outside their roles as researchers in the field. Research encounters presuppose particular boundaries, depending on the methodology employed and the research questions posed. However, participants may identify researchers differently, compelling them to respond in unanticipated ways as possibly therapists, clinicians, interlocutors, and activists. Collectively, the authors of the chapters in this section explore the ethical implications of blurring such boundaries. They unpack the significance of various forms of intimacies that may emerge while undertaking research, how researchers are positioned as agents of social change, and how researchers negotiate their statuses as insiders and outsiders in fieldwork

Introduction: The politics of anonymity and confidentiality

Ethics committees standardly require that the researchers address questions concerning anonymity and confidentiality. The conventional practice is to ensure that participants’ names and identifying details are expunged from public records of the research and that high levels of confidentiality of data are maintained in the research process. In this introduction, we outline how authors of chapters in this section ask questions concerning these imperatives, including circumstances where participants actively want their identity revealed and their voice heard or when anonymising might not be possible or may further disadvantage marginalised populations. We explore the argument made by authors that the automatic anonymising of data and the imposition of confidentiality can constrain ethical conduct

Ethics in critical research: Stories from the field

In this chapter we introduce the approaches to ethics in critical research applied throughout this handbook. Critical research questions who benefits from research and offers critiques rooted in postmodern and liberatory theories, including feminism, Marxism, and postcolonialism. Authors of chapters in the handbook explore ethical issues faced when conducting critical research through stories from the field across a range of methodologies, disciplines, and locations. The chapter overviews the four sections of the handbook and the ethical challenges associated with conducting critical research within the bureaucracy of ethics committees and other systems of governance, blurring the boundaries between researchers and participants/co-researchers, giving voice through research whilst applying anonymity or naming participants/co-researchers, and conducting research with various configurations of power between researchers and participants/co-researchers

The Palgrave handbook of ethics in critical research

The idea for this handbook was born at the 9th Biennial International Society of Critical Health Psychology Conference that was held in Grahamstown, South Africa, in July 2015. As such, our first acknowledgement goes to the International Society of Critical Health Psychology (ISCHP), especially members of the Executive Committee and the Conference Organising Committee, for creating the kind of space in which innovative and critical debates and dialogues are fostered and in which like-minded people from across the globe may collaborate