South African, 1922–1987
Singarum "Kitty" Jeevaruthnam Moodley was born into an Indian family in the province now known as KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in 1922. After working as a machinist in a shoe factory, he established his family-run photographic studio in Pietermaritzburg in 1957. A passionate community activist and fervent opponent of apartheid, he ran Kitty’s Studio until his death in 1987. His photographs offer an evocative and refreshing view of apartheid-era South African society, and expand the history of vernacular studio portraiture in Africa. After his death, many of the studio’s negatives were purchased by the Campbell Collections in Durban, now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Those deemed incompatible with the historical collection were culled from the archive and some 1,400 negatives were ultimately acquired by Columbia University professor Dr. Steven C. Dubin, co-organizer of the exhibition Who I Am: Rediscovered Portraits from Apartheid South Africa (2016).
[Back view of woman wearing traditional attire]
[Boy in a wicker chair]
[Family portrait]
[Girl wearing checkered dress with telephone]
[Husband and wife holding hands]
[Kneeling man wearing traditional attire]
[Man wearing beret, with floral decoration]
[Man wearing peace-sign necklace]
[Man wearing traditional attire and furs holding staff]
[Man with briefcase bearing Biblical quote]
[Man with sideburns]
[Sangoma (traditional healer) in bare feet holding staff]
[Three men dancing in a line]
[Two men with floral decoration and concertina]
[Two men with floral decoration]
[Two women wearing party dresses]
[Two women wearing Western attire]
[Two women wearing Zionist Christian uniforms]
[Two women, one wearing traditional attire]
[Two young men with cigarettes]
[Woman wearing glasses and necklace]
[Woman wearing heeled boots with floral decoration]
[Woman wearing lampshade as hat]
[Woman wearing plaid suit and holding plaid bag]
[Woman wearing short-sleeved dress]
[Woman wearing traditional attire and holding umbrella]
[Woman wearing traditional attire and man, holding hands]
[Woman wearing traditional attire with hat]
[Woman wearing traditional attire with toddler]
[Woman wearing traditional attire]
[Woman wearing Zulu beadwork and holding umbrella]
[Woman wearing Zulu beadwork and men's pants]
[Woman with baby wearing beads]
[Woman with radio]
[Woman with substance applied to face]
[Young man reclining]
[Young man wearing cap with telephone]
[Young woman and man holding hands]