Bibliography: p. 92-93. / My work questions social and cultural constructs of 'normality' and, by focusing on the practices of marginalised communities, questions dominant cultural conventions of female identity, beauty and sexuality. Within visual media, if the private or unsaid of female experience is said, it is seen as subversive. By focusing on four female initiations, my intention is to develop a specific yet complex comparison of different types of initiations. Embedded within the communities I have photographed are unique perceptions of beauty, each of which differs from mainstream notions. My intention is not to exoticise any particular community, but to explore some sub-cultures of female youth in South Africa, and to unfold how these women position themselves in post-Apartheid South Africa. An important component of the work is the relationship of the subject to the documentary process. I hope both to raise questions and also provide some answers concerning how the means of signification functions for the subjects. As the photographer of their transformation process, I am positioned as an outsider in their lives. As a means of acknowledging this, I include a series of photographs taken or directed by the women themselves, alongside my own. In doing so, my intention is to create a visual dialogue with the subjects, effectively offering them the opportunity to reply to my images with their own. This is not meant as a patronising gesture of political correctness, but as a means of attaining a more complete narrative while at the same time exploring complexities inherent in the play between 'inside' and 'outside' perspectives. My editing of their self-portraits positions me as a curator in this facet of the project.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University. PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

In this research dissertation I argue that Pieter Hugo's body of work titled Rwanda 2004: Vestiges of a genocide (2004) can be read according to notions of the sublime, in particular those of terror and the unpresentable. I begin in chapter one by tracing within the discourse of the sublime themes of terror and the manner in which certain sociopolitical events can be understood as sublime instances of terror. The essentially unpresentable nature of such occurrences is another important concern. As my focus is on the aesthetic produce of a visual artist in regards to such sublime notions, I make reference to various other relevant artworks and appropriate art theory. In chapter two I argue the case for the Rwandan Genocide as a sublime political event, an instance of incommensurable terror. In an examination of Hugo's Rwanda 2004: Vestiges of a genocide I outline the manner in which his work, as an aestheticization of such terror, thus embodies notions of the sublime. Via the facilitated experience of witness, I note the manner in which the art spectator, in response to such work, experiences something of the shock and horror associated with the sublime. As a contemporary artist, engaging with genocide in Rwanda, I am careful to posit Hugo's work within the appropriate context of the postcolonial, as well as (in regards to sublime theory) the postmodern. Chapter three examines a personal body of work, Murder on 7th (2009) – an investigation into the neurosis generated by the pervasive influence of violent crime in South Africa. Having already argued the case for the sublime political event, I propose for consideration certain social disorders like violent crime, as well as HIV/Aids, as social incursions capable of precipitating the sublimity of terror

The friction between fact and official fiction appears to be a critical factor in all our lives. Bearing artistic witness to contemporary geo political life necessitates the utilisation of the technologies that are deployed at us, as a mirror to deflect and reflect upon the ideologically mediated strikes carried out against us. I have digitally manipulated documentary photography at the microscopic level and reworked the evidence in a manner that remains undetectable. The documentary information digitised the matrices of data as if at a genetic level, causing simulation of the real. This manipulation of the photographic document is seen to critique our contemporary condition where official fictions can now be represented as historic fact. This work challenges the integrity of vision and the nature of evidence by producing fictional documentation at a high resolution, which gives the illusion and authority of a photographic non-fictional representation. From within my studio-based research, what is and will be possible, how a history is recorded and represented, has been interrogated, by using one form of evidence — in this case, the photograph. Artistic works developed throughout the DCA examined the way a visual history is recorded and in this case, photographically represented. Appreciating the ideology of territory was seen as critical, particularly within an international agenda. Territory was established as a site for research. A territorial containment methodology was established. The territorial containment methodology was to simply designate a physical territory and then produce works from within this designated space. The containment methodology started with 18th century Botany Bay moved around to the next bay Little Bay and forward in time to 1969 and the contemporary artists the Christo’s wrapping of the space. Employing the same methodology the research moved into the Australian Western desert then off island to the Middle East. The collective outcomes of the research are represented by solo and group exhibitions and related publications, all of which are recorded within this document. / Doctor of Creative Arts (DCA)

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1991. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 29).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1983. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 13).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Justin Schorr. Dissertation Committee: Louis Forsdale. Bibliography: leaves 229-235.

This PhD by prior publication comprises a major rephotography project undertaken in two phases (First View, 1986-89 and Second View, 2009-12), together with a written commentary. The project is based on an area along the A62 which connects Manchester to Oldham, a corridor route, which I considered invisible and between places, a seeming ‘non place’.1 The research questions how can topographic images made by adopting strategies of rephotography help to depict aspects of place that remain hidden in generic representations and how, in turn, this photographic record can be put to use. The accompanying critical commentary investigates how this project came to be realised, the photographic research methodologies employed, and relevant contextual frameworks together with the different contexts through which the work has been disseminated and shared. It considers what the practice of rephotography contributes as a visual research method when analysing the shifting topography of a specific urban corridor. Further to this, it suggests ways in which such rephotography can engage different audiences and communities in debate about lived experience of social and economic change. The First View photographic research project was initially conducted by making a series of visits to the area each year recording transformation through redevelopment projects and subtler changes such as incidental events on the street and the variations of seasons. The project took an ethnographic approach to human involvement with place and space (Massey, D. 1994) as well as drawing upon anthropological methods that employ photography as a research tool (Prosser, J. 1998). Outputs from this project demonstrate processes adopted and examples of the photography made. A selection of photographs from First View became a touring exhibition shown in Oldham and Manchester (1986-87) and then in London. A book was also published by the Architectural Association (1987) with a commentary written by Ian Jeffrey. The second view (2009-12) revisits the first survey and considers what happened after. I wanted to consider twenty five years on how the continued process of change may have increasingly eroded/altered the sense of place 1 This term derives from Marc Augé’s book, Lieux et Non-Lieux (2001). 6 within the community. Since the First View a number of external factors influenced how the research would continue. The political scene had changed with introduction of private initiatives and housing associations taking responsibility to manage and refurbish aging housing stock in the public sector closer to the Manchester and in areas towards Oldham. Further cleared areas remained undeveloped due to a major financial downturn. Also the adoption of digital technologies had changed how photography was made, viewed, and used. This led me to consider how the Second View could be more collaborative (Kester, G. 2011) and so modify my method and find new ways to interact with members of the community to help inform the work. Outputs included exhibitions at Gallery Oldham and The People’s History Museum, Manchester and an accompanying commentary written by Stephen Hanson. I also include reviews and examples of additional collaborative photography made and shown alongside the core exhibitions. Examples of the printed work are now housed in Oldham library (including the complete set of Second View exhibition prints, contact sheets and this written report). It is permanently accessible for public and academic use under a commons license. Although it can be argued that all photographic practice contains elements of rephotography, this project contributes to original knowledge through analysis of processes used to make the first long-term comparative and detailed photographic study of the Oldham Road as an area exemplifying shift from industrialisation to service provision. ‘Hermeneutic perspectives emphasise photographs as texts, demanding semantic and semiotic interpretation to determine meaning’ (Margolis and Rowe, 2012). The corridor is now undergoing further changes as new projects by housing associations and globalised business begin to fill the spaces left by previous clearances. My published work shows connections, continuities and breakages and new questions emerge about what values are worth preserving for a future community. I suggest that a continuing photographic element can contribute to an understanding of incidental detail that can influence a more sensitive management of infrastructure and potentially help residents adjust to change and thus maintain their sense of place.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partlal fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Fine Arts. / The research for this degree comprises a theoretical dissertation and a practical component of photographs. The theoretical research investigates the practice of documentary photography in America and South Africa. The photographs of Walker Evans, Robert Frank, David Goldblatt and Bob Gosanl are examined against the background of two organisations, the Farm Security Administration and Drum. These organisations influenced the documentary genre in their respective countries because of their socio-polltical concerns: their choice and presentation of subject matter for publication influenced both the photographar and the viewer. Documentary photographs appear, because of their seemingly candid and unmediated nature, to present historically factual images. Examples from the work of the four photographers reveal their distinction from, continuity with the confines of the documentary genre. Their respective approaches reveal the role of perception as it manifests itself in their work. Subjugation, attltudes towards subject matter, and the pictorial construction of images are analysed in relation to each photographer's work. The relationship of image and text in documentary photography is seen as an element of intervention by the photographer. The selection of these photographers was motivated for their partinance to the subject matter and to the pictorial considerations of the candidate. These issues are therefore examined in relation to the candidate's approach to photography. / Andrew Chakane 2018

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1982. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 59).