Beyond the Barricades: Popular Resistance in South Africa, 1981-1988

Extent:

79 prints

Scope and content:

Consists of 79 gelatin silver prints of images taken from 1981 to 1988 by South African phographers, many of whom were members of Afrapix, the collective photo agency that documented resistance to apartheid in the 1980s. The images originated with the Afrapix documentary project "Beyond the Barricades." The project resulted in an exhibit and a book, Beyond the Barricades: Popular Resistance in South Africa (1989), published in cooperation with the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. Afrapix photographers Omar Badsha, Gideon Mendel, and Paul Weinberg selected photographs for the book.

The photographs are unmatted, exhibit prints measuring approximately 11.75x16 inches. They document social and political protest in South Africa during the violent and bloody period of the 1980s; subjects include funerals, conflicts with police, death squads and vigilantes, rallies and demonstrations, and other political gatherings. Well-known individuals appearing in the photographs include Chief Buthelezi, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President P.W. Botha, Mrs. Botha, Mrs. Tshabalala (wife of the mayor of Soweto), and activists such as Billy Nair and Dorothy Nyembe. Numerous anti-apartheid organizations are portrayed, including the African National Congress (ANC), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the Leandra Youth Congress, the Natal Indian Congress, the Black Sash Society, and the United Democratic Front (UDF).

The images were taken by twenty South African photographers, whose work is listed in this order: Omar Badsha, Julian Cobbing, Paul Grendon, Steve Hilton-Berber, Dave Hartman, Rashid Lombard, Roger Meintjies, Gideon Mendel, Eric Miller, Santu Mofokeng, Themba Nkosi, Cedric Nunn, Billy Paddock, Myron Peters, Chris Qwazi, Jeeva Rajgopaul, Guy Tillim, Zubeida Vallie, Gille de Vlieg, and Paul Weinberg. Most are represented by one or several prints, but Badsha, Mendel, and Weinberg contributed over a dozen images each. There are also a few prints whose photographers have not been identified.

The bulk of the photographs are described fully with captions and dates in the book Beyond the Barricades. Some of the photographs are also available as digital images mounted on the library server; please contact Research Services for access.

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