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No Way Back – Reflections on the Future of the African Photographic Archive

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2020

Jürg Schneider  and
Paul Weinberg
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Abstract:

The article examines from a global perspective the phenomenon of digital photographic archiving and questions its impact on African archives both on the continent and outside it. The authors deal with the multi-layered consequences of information technologies for African photographic archives, asking to what degree they have connected Africa to the world. They consider too how much access they have given Africans to materials that were previously either unknown to them, or beyond their reach. Finally, the article explores how much opportunity digitization offers to agents of African photographic archives, empowered by technological developments.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Cet article examine le phénomène de l’archivage photographique numérique à l’échelle mondiale et s’interroge sur son impact sur les archives africaines à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur du continent. Dans leur essence même, les auteurs traitent des conséquences multiples des technologies de l’information pour les archives photographiques africaines. Ils demandent dans quelle mesure ces technologies ont mis l’Afrique en relation avec le monde, et dans quelle mesure elles ont donné aux Africains l’accès à et une compréhension de matériaux inconnus auparavant ou inaccessibles. Enfin, l’article explore dans quelle mesure la numérisation offre des opportunités aux agents travaillant des archives photographiques africaines entrainés et encouragés à utiliser ces nouvelles technologies.

Type
Archives and the Digital Turn
Information
History in Africa , Volume 47 , June 2020 , pp. 167 - 194
Copyright
© African Studies Association, 2020

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