Afrikaans Photograph Analysis

You must feel an affinity for what you are photographing. You must be part of it, and yet remain sufficiently detached to see it objectively. Like watching from the audience a play you already know by heart'- George Rodger.George Rodger also was known as “The quiet Englishman” was born in the small city of Hale in Cheshire. He grew up in Cheshire but spending some of his childhood in Scotland. He moved to the small town of Cumbria where he attended St Bee’s College but dropped out to enlist in the British Merchant Navy, exploring the unknown. After the army, Mr Rodger relocated to the United States of America, unfortunately, this was during the Great Depression but after a few years he decided to move back to England and joined the BBC as a photographer. Moreover, with the start of World War 2, he became a correspondent for LIFE, which was an American magazine at the time. This job took him to over sixty-one countries as he covered more than eighteen war campaigns. Some of his most iconic photographs include photographs of the London Blitz, the D-Day Normandy landings and the Liberation of Paris. Mr Rodger’s was intrigued by the world and wanted to see what it had to offer. He explored the world, writing and illustrating articles for magazines but he focused on the vanishing tribes of Africa as well as the wildlife and various ethnic groups within Africa. In 1947 with various other well-known photographers, he started the photographic agency Magnum Photos. George was drawn to South Africa due to his English origin, having known that South Africa was a British colony. George came to South Africa and captured images of the 1948 state election. Furthermore, George continued his travels capturing the world around him but in 1959 he settled down with his wife in a small village in Kent but he still continued to write and journey around the World especially Africa. Sadly, in 1995 the great photographer passed away having lived a full life

Background of Photograph

General JBM Hertzog was a radical Afrikaner nationalist and founded the National Party in January 1914. Furthermore, he did not like Britain’s involvement within South Africa as he believed the Afrikaner’s were ignored and he wished to promote Afrikaans culture and language as he feared the Afrikaans language might disappear so, he made it mandatory for Afrikaans kids to be taught in Afrikaans which led on to the strong Afrikaans Nationalism a Broederbond achieved after both war’s. Furthermore, to this, the Afrikaans strongly disliked the British as they wanted the land and resources the Boers had which led to the first and second Boer war in which the Boer's were treated badly and many were killed as well as the British took the Boer's jobs and left them with low paying, intense labour jobs. This led to a strong Afrikaans nationalism and hatred of the British.

Moreover, The NP combined with the Labour Party won the 1924 election and in 1926 the Balfour Declaration was signed and asserted South African Nationalism. In addition to this in 1934, Hertzog merges his party with Smut’s party the SAP and forms the UP. This unification was to try and connect Afrikaans and English-speaking people. Moreover, during World War 2 Prime Minister Smuts is away in Britain trying to help with the efforts in the war and makes Afrikaans men fight in the war on the side of the British which makes the Afrikaners very unhappy because they do not want to fight in the war and especially not for Britain, this increases Afrikaans Nationalism and causes a split in the UP with Hertzog leaving the partnership. In addition to this, there was a growing irritation among the Afrikaner people as food prices increased as well as the cost of living and farmers were upset as their workers left the farms to move to the city in search of work. Dr Malan campaigned against General Smuts and targeted the Afrikaans workers especially the farmers whereas Smuts was busy in Britain to campaign as well as he thought that he would obviously win. Malan also promised to put the native policy into action.

Impact of Photograph on Society

The impact of the photograph at the time would have been different for the different people in South Africa for the Afrikaners it would have had a positive impact and would have persuaded the Afrikaans people to choose the NP as the NP were on the side of the Afrikaans and wanted to protect the Afrikaans culture and supply jobs to the Afrikaans. and were going to deal with the issue of the influx of black workers that were taking the jobs away from the Afrikaners. The poster leads to strong Afrikaner Nationalism and the broederbond, the idea that they need to take care of each other In contrast, the English-speaking South Africans would have been a bit worried because the poster was meant to persuade the Afrikaans people to vote for the NP and if the NP won the Afrikaners would be first priority and they would lose jobs and control but for the black people it would not have had much of an impact on them as they were not allowed to vote and would not benefit from either party coming into power as they would still be treated as less.

Impact on the International Community

The photograph’s impact on the International Community would have been different for various nations. It would have had a negative impact on the British as it shows the Afrikaans people are in support of the Nazis as they regard themselves as Nazis and it shows Britain that they are losing political power within the country and it is a threat against them as the poster will persuade people against them. For Germany, it is a positive impact as it shows that the Nationalists regard themselves as Nazis and the saying they still stand together meaning they are still in the fight.

Values

Photographs are primary sources and thus showed the actual poster· It showed the attitudes of the people more specifically the Afrikaans people.· The photograph was easily accessible and a lot of information was given on the photo and photographer.· It adds information and with other photo’s it can help us develop a clear idea of that time period.

Limitations

It only captures a moment in time, there is no context for the viewer.· The photograph may have focused on one aspect of the poster and might have left out something that might change our minds.· The photograph zooms in on the poster and does not show much of the background or what is happening out of the shot.· The photograph is biased and it is the point of views of the photographer.