Gems from the dust of history

His and Morolong’s pictures, along with the township studio photographs gathered by Ruth Sack and Angus Gibson, are historically fascinating, quite apart from the quality of the images themselves – especially alongside the modern images of Qampi, which at times spark intriguing echoes of the archives.

In the notes on the leaflet Weinberg writes: “The camera, like the gun and the bible, has historically been viewed as a tool of colonialism ... The Other Camera offers another perspective ... brings the concept of indigenous media (insider perspectives on identity and representation) to the fore.”

These photographs of life under apartheid have survived the regime that tried to sweep them away into bantustans and townships outside town.

Embedded in their communities, photographers like Morolong are a priceless cultural treasure – so much so that perhaps this exhibition would much better have been named The Real Camera.