Santu Mofokeng’s The Black Photo Album / Look at Me: 1890–1950 (2013) and the Victorian Dispositive. Photographic Staging and Appropriation as Practices of Anticolonial Resistance

This contribution discusses selected historical photographs of the research project, collection, and photobook The Black Photo Album / Look at Me: 1890–1950 published in 2013 by Santu Mofokeng (1956–2020), both within original context their emergence as well taking Mofokeng’s intention editing into account. Furthermore, location image content its aesthetics colonial South Africa Victorian photographic dispositive are focus. analysis considers discourse late 19th century an influential frame. entails ongoing mechanisms epistemic violence visual representation community. paper perceives found a material testimony practiced anticolonial resistance. perspective contributes productively to critical discussion question, if these images “evidence mental colonisation” or did they serve challenge prevailing ‘African people’ ‘West’.
 
 Article received: April 5, 2022; accepted: June 21, Published online: September 15, Original scholarly