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HSTRY 494B: Imagining Africa: Primary: Images, Films & Maps

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Streaming Films

Search these newsreel (usually prior to the 1950s) and documentary film collections (usually prior to the 1950s) for footage dealing with Africa.

The UW Libraries has a very small collection of streaming feature films and only Hotel Rwanda is set in Africa. You likely will have to use streaming services (netflix, hulu, etc.) to view films. The Libraries does have some films on DVD that can be requested for curbside pick-up. Examples include Mogambo, The African Queen & Tarzan the Ape Man.

To identify feature films that are set in Africa, see Wikipedia's list of films and also search the American Film Institute Catalog. 

Photographs as Historical Evidence

Photographs, drawings and other images provide information you can't always get from a text source. Images can provide details of everyday life such as clothing or material culture. It is important to keep in mind that photographs are not an unbiased reflection of reality -- the photographer chooses what and how to depict a certain scene. When using images ask yourself, "why it was created, how it was used, how this subject that was depicted here, was understood."

Strengths

  • Photographs, drawings and other images provide information you can't always get from a text source. Images can provide details of everyday life such as clothing and material culture. 
  • Photographs of the same area taken at different times can show change over the years.

 

Keep in mind

  • Many photographs come with limited information about the photographer, location and date. You will need to analyze the photograph for clues. 
  • Photographs are not an unbiased reflection of reality -- the photographer chooses what and how to depict a certain scene. You need to ask your self what was the purpose of the photograph.
 

Colonial era and ethnographical photographs "may contain offensive images or language reflecting the nature of European colonialism in Africa. Such materials should be viewed in the context of the time and place in which they were created" (Winterton Collection). For more context see: Central African Peoples through the Eyes of Western Photographers and Photographs as Sources (Oxford Encyclopedia of African Historiography)

For more information on using photographs see: Photographs as Sources, Making Sense of Documentary Photographs, Analyzing Photographs, Analyzing Material Culture, Photo Analysis Worksheet, Learning to do Historical Research: Photographic Images.

 Maps as Historical Evidence

Strengths

  • Maps provide a spatial dimension and can reveal aspects of a city that may not be visible at first glance such as transport networks and environmental dimensions.
 

Keep in mind

  • Different kinds of maps provide different kinds of information -- a fire insurance map is different from a topographical map.  
  • It is important to keep in mind that maps are not a mirror of reality -- the creator of a map chooses what to include and how to depict a certain place within the cartographic conventions of the times. Maps are created for specific purposes.
 

For more information on using maps see: Making Sense of Maps, Map Analysis Worksheet & Learning to do Historical Research: Maps
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