Posted on 29 April 2011 by Betsie
by Christoph Rippe
It was probably in the year 1894 that a professional photographic studio opened at Mariannhill Monastery, near Pinetown. However, ever since the foundation of the mission settlement in 1882, it had been obvious that photography played a vital role in the self-representation of this particular South African offspring of the Catholic Reformed Cistercian Order [OCR, today OCSO], better known as Trappists: the community’s far-sighted founder, Fr. Franz Pfanner developed a still existing propaganda network, which even included a state-of-the-art printing press. Still, the photographic business had a slow start. Due to Natal’s humid climate, the Monastery’s photographers were only able to work with the necessary delicate chemicals to full extent in the early 1890s.
Additionally, in the beginning, the activities of the monastic community, their building operations and moulding of the environment, were the main attention of the camera. Trappist monks are a contemplative order and bound to a vow of silence and enclosure. Only with the arrival of the decision that a presence in the midst of a local people could not abstain from active involvement and conversion, the camera was pointed outwards, to portrait the local communities on and around the mission’s land (amaNganga – see St Wendolin’s: Prehistory). This decision for direct contact with people eventually led to the separation of Mariannhill from the Trappist order in 1909.
![Plate 1. – Back of carte de visite from Mariannhill Studio, approx. 1910. [Mariannhill Mission Archives].](http://blog.ulwazi.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Plate-1.jpg "Plate 1. – Back of carte de visite from Mariannhill Studio, approx. 1910. [Mariannhill Mission Archives].")
Plate 1. – Back of carte de visite from Mariannhill Studio, approx. 1910. (Mariannhill Mission Archives).
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Posted on 01 July 2010 by Ulwazi Web Editor
We will be updating the MediaWiki software on the Community Memory site today, between 9 and 12. During this time, the site may be unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Posted on 03 February 2010 by Ulwazi Web Editor
Ulwazi needs your help to write the history of soccer in Durban. If you have stories of famous football players or clubs in or from Durban please submit them to us, along with any photographs or audio/video recordings.
We currently have a category Soccer in Durban but could do with a lot more information on what made soccer so vibrant in Durban, from the 50s and 60s up until the present day.
Posted on 11 January 2010 by Ulwazi Web Editor
The Ulwazi Community Memory database is populated with content from volunteer field-workers. Sometimes they don’t have access to all the information necessary to write a comprehensive article or else an entry would benefit from an image or better categorization. We encourage the internet community at large and particularly people connected to the city of Durban to register an account through our wiki and help improve the Ulwazi Community Memory by editing and adding to articles.
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Posted on 11 November 2009 by Ulwazi Web Editor
The Ulwazi Programme is currently exploring ways to digitise some indigenous games so they can be played online. Which of the following would you like to play online?
