Previous page | New search |
The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here
Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Spatial stories: photographic practices and urban belonging |
Author: | Magee, Carol |
Year: | 2007 |
Periodical: | Africa Today |
Volume: | 54 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 109-129 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Mali South Africa |
Subjects: | photography urban environment |
About persons: | Alioune Bā (1959-) Zwelethu Mthethwa (1960-) |
External link: | http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/africa_today/v054/54.2magee.pdf |
Abstract: | Photographs can reflect the excitement, calm, vitality, decay, alienation, and intimacy of urban environments, yet they not only record the city, they create it. To demonstrate this point, the author analyses photographs by Alioune Bā, a Malian, and Zwelethu Mthethwa, a South African. These images, though void of human beings, address the urban realities of movement, migration, and labour. The author frames this analysis with the spatial theorizing of Michel de Certeau, who posited that individuals' everyday practices (such as photographing) are significant for understanding the invention of spaces (such as cities and the meanings they embody). Ultimately, she argues, the city as the content of these photographs intersects with the city as a context for them, creating a sense of place and engendering a discourse of belonging. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract] |