Reframing Johannesburg's urban politics through the lens of the Chinese Camera Club of South Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3660583 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Malcolm Corrigall (0000-0001-5412-7072, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, DST-NRF South African Research Chair in South African Art and Visual Culture, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 510-527 |
| Publication date | 2018-09-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Dynamics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0253-3952 • E-ISSN: 1940-7874 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02533952.2018.1503036 |
| OpenAlex | W2896219088 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
The Chinese Camera Club of South Africa was formed in 1952 in Johannesburg and was active throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Chinese South Africans were adversely affected by the consolidation of urban racial segregation during apartheid. The Club and its members used the spatial tactic of the photographic outing to disrupt the racialisation of space within Johannesburg, as well as to produce photographs that expressed aspirations that were curtailed by the apartheid system. Photographic outings created temporary zones of autonomy in which photographers could capture subversive and otherwise ephemeral experiences of space. I also examine a photographic exhibition organised by the Chinese Camera Club that formed part of the Johannesburg Festival of 1956. By participating in this celebration of civic pride, the Chinese Camera Club exploited a conspicuous public platform to enhance the visibility and prestige of both themselves and the wider Chinese community within Johannesburg. To paraphrase Stuart Hall, the exhibition contested the relations of difference that were imposed upon club members by racial classification, and replaced exclusionary notions of their difference with relentlessly positive ones. Simultaneously, the exhibition asserted a sense of their belonging to Johannesburg, in spite of their precarious right to reside within it
Art · Cityscape · Club · Exhibition · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Pride · Sociology · Visual arts · African history and culture studies · Gender Studies · Law · Legal Issues in South Africa · South African History and Culture
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |