Instant Ancestors

Boxes of old unlabeled photographs are commonly featured at flea markets worldwide. Some enterprising vendors dub them “instant ancestors,” hawking the prospect of acquiring fictive kin and ersatz genealogies to new publics. These traders peddle style over substance and invite their customers to conjure up backstories for signifiers that have lost their indexicality. In essence they stoke peoples’ penchant for nostalgia. As objects that are commonly imbued with strong sentiments (Barthes 1981), photos enable individuals to fabricate memories and to project their contemporary needs and concerns onto depreciated material.This inquiry is based upon an unexpected archive: unclaimed material from a frame and photo developing shop in Johannesburg, South Africa. It expands upon numerous investigations into the visual economies and biographies of photographs. For example, Cohen (2014) and Feyder (2015) worked with caches of negatives that were found by chance or stored away for decades. In the first instance, the researcher's primary interests lay with the ethical implications of image making and display. In the second, the goal was to reconnect members of the “source community” of a particular photographer's work. The research strategies of both trumped performing a close analysis of the photos themselves.Moreover, Haney (2013) investigated family-run studios in West Africa; the elite customers of these places have passed down portraits for generations, and the identities of both creator and subject thus remain discernible. Nimis (2013) similarly looked at networks of Yoruba studio photographers. Once again, knowing the source is critical to understanding aspects of the production side of image making, such as the contribution of distinctive professional styles and norms. While all these studies make important contributions to understanding African photography, the application of their insights is limited in the case of anonymous or semi-anonymous images, their creators, and their owners.Other scholars have directed a great deal of attention to studio photographers such as Seydou Keita and Malick Sidibe in Mali, and more recently to relative unknowns such as South Africa's S.J. “Kitty” Moodley (Dubin 2014), Ronald Ngilima (Feyder 2015) and Daniel Morolong (McNulty 2014). Of special note are the opportunities that studios offered for flights of fantasy and aspirational self-fashioning, often under oppressive social conditions (see, e.g., Behrend 1998; Wendl 2001).It is impossible to calculate the volume of unidentified photographs that survive in marketplaces, archives, household cupboards and drawers, in trash dumps—virtually anywhere, for that matter. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to assert that they encompass a vast but under-researched field that exists beyond the focal boundaries that prior researchers of African photography have mapped. This investigation suggests some ways of going forward to understand such phenomena.In 2014 I purchased over 800 personal photographs and documents from Ravi Lalla, the owner of Popular Picture Framers and General Dealer in Johannesburg. I had heard passing references a number of times to a photo shop that operated on the southeastern edge of the city. When I watched the documentary Jeppe on a Friday (Walsh and Lalloo 2012), Lalla's appealing appearance as one of film's featured subjects confirmed that the business continues to exist.The first time I visited I was in awe of his shop, packed as it was with sample frames, kitschy artwork, thousands of chromolithographs of Biblical scenes, makarapa1 left over from the FIFA 2010 World Cup competition, African curios produced for the tourist market, and promotions for local products and services, such as cell phone carriers: “Yebo, Gogo! [Yes, Granny]” (Fig. 1).Lalla has deep roots in this precinct that is known as Jeppestown, which once bustled with Indian-owned shops. This is where he was born and raised, and his father was one of dozens of tailors working in the vicinity. The buildings largely remain in Indian hands, but many of them now house businesses run by a cross section of South Asians, as well as Africans from other countries, including Ethiopians, Nigerians, and Ghanaians. Lalla launched this business in 1978 along with three family members, but he is now sole proprietor. The shop is unlikely to exist more than a few years longer: he anticipates retirement on the horizon, and no relative has interest in taking it over.2To gain a sense of the surrounding terrain, imagine placing the needle point of a drafting compass onto a map at the Albertina Sisulu Road off ramp from busy Joe Slovo Drive. Placing the device's pencil a few blocks away in a southeasterly direction, a clockwise turn lands you in Jeppestown.What was a prime residential enclave during Johannesburg's early history in the late nineteenth century evolved into a poor and working class district during the twentieth. In the mind of the local public, Jeppestown is closely identified with the Wolhuter Hostel, generally referred to as the Jeppe Hostel. The city council erected it in 1932 to house male migrants who continue to flock to the metropole to earn money in order to support their rural-based families. A board of inquiry into factional violence in the early 1990s dubbed squalid accommodations such as these “fortresses of fear” (Ackermann 1992).3Jeppestown was also the site of eruptions of xenophobic violence in 2008 and 2015, primarily directed at Africans from elsewhere on the continent who have been driven from their homes by political turmoil or economic necessity, or have arrived on their own initiative to pursue business opportunities. Popular Picture Framers and General Dealer is sited near the hostel, set into the corner of a row of two-story commercial buildings bearing a suspended balcony. This quaint architectural embellishment shelters those on the sidewalk from sun or rain but survives only on a steadily diminishing number of historic Johannesburg locations (Fig. 2).Continue the revolution of the compass another quarter turn. Passing numerous panel beating shops and residential buildings seized by gangsters for their own financial gain, you will see the Kwa Mai Mai Market (offering a vast assortment of African goods);4 skirt Jewel City (a fortress-like diamond and gold processing center); and pass by the edge of the Fashion District, site of hundreds of small design and tailoring operations.Your arc also now encompasses the Maboneng Precinct (Sesotho for “place of light”), an assemblage of warehouses and disused factories that have recently been repurposed into upscale high-security apartments, galleries, co-working spaces, restaurants and bars. One critic of the project—and there are many—remarked, “Maboneng is a false tooth in a whole set of teeth ... If you think of a veneer it looks just like the other teeth ... [but] it's not real” (Rees 2013).This landscape is rife with contradictions: Popular Picture Framers and General Dealer is flanked by privilege and despair. Its location embodies residues of the apartheid city along with a prime vantage point onto substantial urban transformation. As the social topography of the neighborhood changes, enterprises such as Lalla's represent a layer of bedrock that is gradually becoming submerged by post-apartheid forces and events, such as the aforementioned in-migration and ongoing cycles of central city abandonment and reuse.The selection of material that I purchased had been entrusted to Lalla by a multitude of people throughout the 1990s to be copied, enlarged or framed. Lalla places every order he receives within an envelope, each of which bears the customer's name; the desired service; sometimes an address, but not always; and the date it came to the shop. Although these possessions were brought to Lalla during a specific decade, their origins span the pre- and post-apartheid eras, and the forty-plus years falling in between.At one time these items held significance for their owners, yet they remained unclaimed, even though Lalla requires his customers to leave a cash deposit for work they wish to have done. This is somewhat analogous to how pawnshops operate. In this instance, however, the customers lose their money as well as their items if they do not follow through with a transaction, and what remains possesses scant intrinsic value.The photos were produced in either black and white or in color. They range from casual snapshots of people to formal studio portraits; reflect both the sort of blunders indicative of an amateur's hand as well as the expertise of the professional. The work consists, in other words, of a mélange of styles, subject matter, and sizes, thereby representing the broad span of the medium.I discovered them in two large dust-covered boxes stowed upon the top shelf of a crowded back workroom-cum-storeroom, and in a sizable box resting on the floor. Accessing them required delicately moving, shuffling, and balancing frames, tools, and the detritus of a long-established business. As the years pass Lalla consigns orders that he doubts will ever be reclaimed to this repository, keeping only unredeemed ones from more recent years in the shop proper.I looked through all the envelopes containing orders that were stashed away in these boxes and bought the 800 items—perhaps a third of the total of what I saw. I did not have fixed selection criteria in mind; in fact, I was somewhat dumbstruck when I learned that Lalla held onto such an inventory, and moreover, that his staff would so quickly consent for me to sift through it during first I was to of and individuals those in or many with the of and documents that or important of what I would interest to a to the people such as photos or the sort of that as and encompass a vast as well as in some by on the of or in the case of on the They an and (Fig. and a of of in by the African span from and to to be in the or of to a or in of a to a to the by local the of many of these personal were Africans who came to Johannesburg for The many of them was the aforementioned for male Lalla that from there have for a substantial of his from throughout South as well as beyond e.g., these left their photographs and important was thus through It is to the to reflect on the that have brought the an by the from the for example, to or some at a in the an in a photo and owner or and to the even this material requires a of the an I have to items of black that up in flea markets or shops (Dubin and a of negatives that had been of by a (Dubin 2014). as it when the of items from the of that are up and in of is in the of the of through The of such and in Lalla's back is not as as it is investigation with ones based upon the of a particular or studio material or of In order to understand these photos as as and based upon own with South African and I people in in the three in the Johannesburg, and They and field of African and material and some I with as I each of them an assortment I had of what I will a sample of photos and documents from Popular Picture Framers and General Dealer the of In an is an that of time or to this in is the from the to it to a or that has been along by an and as in a location that be from the point of is thus an in from In many of it from the landscape like a be the in but and it by their This not the of from the or as well as and if this to the when photographs such as the ones I found at Lalla's shop up by and are in unexpected by their they have lost one of their intrinsic the to and particular and commonly of and with the of their often their and essence of this is as a of semi-anonymous of peoples’ some the and of I will also a sense of and family and and and While photos be a that people to one the that and and such I will how the of such as and personal or what is this investigation is and I will objects that under other for for their owners, but are more with an to understanding their and This selection of from the to the the personal to the from the of the studio to the of local and as well as It is a cross section of the South African in the will three of the social and social the and of these the of the and the and close of this visual and of the that people first and at General Picture Framers and General Dealer is The photographs into the and and of people with they are not ever to be to these in is a century their and the with which their have now As all their all family the In other words, the specific with which photos were once have been the of the memories they held has The particular thus into the the I this of from the Popular Picture Framers and General Dealer by them into is an by other documents that were from Ravi Lalla's shop, it was brought in for the of photo This particular or was set by the apartheid to that the not in the in as a was one of such the of each based upon It with the of a upon the of apartheid in thereby the to this of an African and working in an urban of South under apartheid was required to an a for the that was to keeping it in order Nevertheless, would not from into on a an into a within a set for not an by the would a into The of the of is what the of the owner of this to it and suggests the of in Johannesburg. This hundreds of from point of and once central to this particular and has into a of a by as well as This of individuals project the that it to mind in The at of South African photos that and the of Africans from time a of this particular image the in as from the of the which the other of the a first these to the to reflect a a and material however, a number of For example, and or the image they to the on the The at the and is a that this not have been his material is up along the of the on the as at the to the and the of the his all these into the identities these and desired to project were somewhat has a a of a (Fig. looks he would not of on the of or The be a that would not have been when this image was that in it looks like a of or As as this of the that it is for to is with Lalla a he once If customers brought a it be onto a small and to be the by an One is of that the photo of a one from yet it near the of the as well as the of the that from a a or a such an individuals who were such a of a and of to the by to they the and with which they a design a personal e.g., 2014). once again, the is a of it is a of other of it the of an other through either or The to the it to the of a that had or the to be to a in (Fig. see what is a father and what have been a with memories has been photo similarly to the (Fig. a history of of a or and and for of the of It a of that it was once and that it is now is The on the other by his The of was that more than not this has on his from working on the a of the of throughout Africa. If this was the the have only his father on a few the would be a to The the is that at first the two to be hands, yet in they are Although the is the one his is photo the and of the and a that is thousands of times over throughout this of the As with all the material in this brought this photo to Popular Picture Framers and General it the the or was it the and there is no that possesses a (Fig. with as though in As is not appearance that is a of the a that has been at with the the African political on The are and the and white to that from is and all from reflect with the that is and a from it looks as if this one be from The on an of a that is Some think of it as a of the who this photo off at Popular Picture Framers and General Dealer was a by was in during the up to the first in South Africa. It was also a when the the and the for political had a large that be a for a in the has to the of ... with a of this it is that such a at this Although has this those and who would this of have been the to do for years is at in as This a as an to the early The of his social are the or of the back the and a off by a his and the The is of in the of the is in a particular time and under into and for their and were into and As for in the century would to as a When in a such as however, the of as an to the needs and of the be for but his is where are his the hand is where a or a The of his and his his the of a at a but with a personal that his there be and there is in the in This is a a and of and of on the of the photo making it as if he is appearance attention from a a with his hand that in the one of three that in South African and date to the late the time that this photo was members a and They follow the of the which of the words, and that one from This the of the a with from other In this it of the and each of the two in the of the the members will a of This is a specific to The and the a to their to a These two particular had but now they have social a or appearance is in and white and white for a that is the of a during and objects his of the people I this for a both his and his to that of and are more than is the for example, a is to a by an of the or to in A of the some time a more contemporary a a be a and do male and a be a and do but with it is more This visual each a hand be resting upon the at first like an has a more The was with another who has been by placing a of over a of the This Ravi Lalla to a on to a new more to the of the thereby the as a of the visual is not in the often a where who has has been off a or of a other photos in the Lalla were similarly that this was in as has for people to upon the photographs and from that photographs are to or not the subject is every is this It is impossible to the of how the of the people in the discovered at Popular Picture Framers and General Dealer of their by their photographs it has been to or to some their the to or photos that the family members, and have as a of The is the important of such in South it is reasonable to assert that the that such individuals some of and in a of or as and a sense of and this even though it has been to the of these photographs to a than is with or them to be by based upon as well as inquiry of the social history of a photography an of the of an and a close of It with an to “instant ancestors,” photos that have been or and are offered for to The small sample of unclaimed photos of how South Africans the of with the of the these are not and a range of For those of the this chance of material the understanding of how South Africans their throughout the for the where these items were Popular Picture Framers and General Dealer has been by social and economic forces at in South Africa; many of the have enterprises have off some are to and the of has the into the many of them would have for professional The date I had this for I set to Ravi Lalla once I had I I had driven but as I up and down in Jeppestown his shop I it have the Market I in the and also some but his business to have I was so that than the and I in to the this time to the of the market, who had over the by Popular Picture Framers and General of and were on the and of Lalla's old it Lalla had recently the and a side for onto the the remain the has been to than a third of The was by the of one of Lalla's who had the of the business like a shop, the South African of a his is to more on his frame and photo an of and remain on of Indian for a the possessions with which and of Ravi Lalla's once people at the they have been by for male The sole who came in during of more than an bought for a at the more than the of the Picture Framers and General Dealer has been in and A that has for produced and memories for of customers is now a of The that has the of a the of the business It is not to imagine that in the near all of Ravi Lalla's shop and that it will be and like an into near as a of South Africa's urban the to the needs of the of for

Aesthetics · Art · Elite · Genealogy · Indexicality · Instant · Political science · Sociology · Studio · Subject (documents) · Visual arts · African history and culture studies · Computer Science · History · Law · Philosophy · Photography and Visual Culture · South African History and Culture

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