['Natal-The Bluff, Durban', 'Beaufort West-Main Street'] before 1880

These photographs of Durban and Beaufort West, by Sam Alexander, capture a specific moment in the history of South Africa. The photographic process itself – the darkroom alchemy, the patient exposures – speaks to a world of rapidly advancing technology. But look closer, and you'll notice the images are presented as a carefully curated album. This wasn't mass media; it was a considered and quite precious object. The photographs' material qualities, from the tones to the paper stock, contribute to their meaning. They are documentary, of course, but they are also artifacts. Their creation involved time, labor, and a certain degree of skill. Unlike a snapshot casually shared today, these images were intended to last. Considering them as such invites us to reflect on the contrasts between then and now, and on the enduring power of material culture to carry stories across time. It urges us to look beyond the surface of representation and to appreciate the deeper layers of meaning embedded in the materiality of the artwork itself.