Narrative portrait photography and South African collector culture

Abstract

This research involves an investigation into narrative portrait photography as an engagement with South African collector culture. Increasingly, contemporary photography projects concentrating on the documenting of the human subject and society actively include the participation of the subjects. The subject participates in their representation, allowing a more subject-sensitive photographic narrative. The emphasis is placed on the personal experience rather than a collective or outsider’s view. The methodological approach followed in this article reflects on the broader intrinsic understanding of the collector culture, as well as the collaborative process between photographer and subject. This is done in order to provide a point of departure for the discussion of the photo-narrative portraits of Hannah Minkley. Minkley reflects on the quirky, obsessive tendencies of middle class, Eastern Cape collectors as an indicator of the personal story of the individual and their relationship with their collected objects, within the broader context of the collector culture. Her narrative portraits comment on the acquisitive and possessive tendencies displayed by individual collectors in middle class South African society. The paper provides possible insights into a process where the photographer explores the subject’s opinion through the use of text and photographs, as well as, importantly, in relation to people’s personal collections

Hierdie navorsing behels ʼn relaas in portret fotografie as skakeling met die Suid Afrikaanse versamelkultuur. Al hoe meer kontemporêre fotografiese projekte wat fokus op die dokumentasie van die menslike figuur as onderwerp asook die gemeenskap, sluit die aktiewe deelname van die onderwerp in. Die onderwerp wat bestudeer word is betrokke by hulle eie uitbeelding in die foto wat n onderwerp sensitiewe weergawe tot gevolg het en dra by tot die visuele kwaliteit van die verhaal wat uitgebeeld word. Klem word geplaas op die persoonlike ervaring in plaas van ʼn buitestaander of kollektiewe perspektief. Die metodiese benadering wat in hierdie artikel gevolg word, bepeins ʼn breër wesenlike begrip van die versamelkultuur sowel as die medewerking tussen fotograaf en onderwerp. Hierdie benadering dien ook as vertrekpunt in die bespreking van die fotografiese verhaal portrette van Hannah Minkley. Minkley se werk reflekteer die eienaardige en obsessiewe neigings van die middelklas Oos Kaapse versamelaar. Haar doel is om die lewensverhaal van die individu en sy verhouding met sy versamelde items weer te gee, gesien in die konteks van die breër versamelkultuur. Haar verhaal portrette lewer komentaar oor die hebsug en besitlike neigings van versamelaars in n middelklas Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing. Hierdie artikel dra by tot insig in die proses waardeur die fotograaf met betrekking tot die individu se persoonlike versamelings en sy sieninge, ondersoek word deur middel van foto’s en teks.