To browse Academia. This dissertation examines the practice of Sierra Leonean photographer Alphonso Lisk-Carew Through an exploration of his photography, it engages the key issues relating to Lisk-Carew's biography, his contribution to Sierra Leonean photography and his photographic practice within a complex multiracial society. In the s, Vera Viditz-Ward's pioneering scholarship introduced the established, yet little-known, histories of photographic practices in Sierra Leone.
Her early research on Alphonso Lisk-Carew engendered a new approach to the study of Sierra Leonean photographers. Here, I build on Viditz-Ward's groundbreaking work by investigating a range of photographs and postcards that highlight his photographic ideas and practices in Sierra Leone, and by introducing oral testimonies from some of his descendents and friends as well as local citizens.
Moreover, I utilize an extensive body of primary materials found in local newspapers such as the Sierra Leone Weekly News to contextualize and shed new light on the social, political and economic contexts under which Lisk-Carew built his commercial enterprise. I also consider Lisk-Carew's gendered position, and following on from his body of work, examine his legacy in a retrospective exhibition.
Subsequent to the aftermath of a protracted civil war in Sierra Leone , both individual and institutional archives were decimated and made vulnerable. In light of this, I consider the reconstituting of photographic archives and address the ways in which the surviving institutional archives in Freetown can be reclaimed, preserved and maintained.
To the loving memory of my parents, Evelyn Germaine Gaye and George Jerome Gaye , in appreciation for their unwavering love, encouragement and support, and to my aunt Coretta Isaac ,for fostering my love for art and art history. Photographic material can sometimes pose an overwhelming and distorting presence, especially when it comes to the writing of history.
