Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection

African Art Museum

Ndebele Woman at Doorway

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Finding aid

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Object Details

Summary

The collection dates from 1900 to 1997 and mostly includes images taken in South Africa. The images document the peoples of South Africa, particularly the Loved, Ndebele, San, Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu peoples. Locations photographed include Basutoland (now Lesotho), Bechuanaland (now Botswana), Johannesburg, Natal, Pretoria, Soweto, Swaziland, Transkei, Transvaal, the Umzimkulu Valley and Zululand. Manuscript and office files include clippings, correspondence, exhibition announcements, invitations and reviews, notes, essays, receipts, and other materials that document Larrabee's career, family history, and personal life.

Scope and Contents

The collection dates from 1900 to 1997 and mostly includes images taken in South Africa. The images document the peoples of South Africa, particularly the Lovedu, Ndebele, San, Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu peoples. Locations photographed include Basutoland (now Lesotho), Bechuanaland (now Botswana), Johannesburg, Natal, Pretoria, Soweto, Swaziland, Transkei, Transvaal, the Umzimkulu Valley and Zululand. Notable people photographed include Noel Coward, Gwen Ffangcon Davies, Athol Fugard, Nadine Gordimer, Norman Hackforth, Freida Lock, Ivor Novello, Alan Paton, Alexis Preller, Gerard Sekoto, and Marda Vanne. The manuscript materials and office files are comprised of clippings, correspondence, exhibition announcements, invitations and reviews, notes, essays, receipts, and other manuscript materials that document Larrabee's career, family history, and personal life.

sova.eepa.1998-006

GUID

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo73ffd6319-f297-4673-b633-778332d2e920

Photographer

Larrabee, Constance Stuart

Place

Botswana

Lesotho

South Africa

Swaziland

Africa

Topic

Lobedu (African people)

Provenance

Donated by Constance Stuart Larabee in 1986 and 1998.

Photographer

Larrabee, Constance Stuart

Culture

Ndebele (African people)

Zulu (African people)

Xhosa (African people)

Swazi (African people)

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Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection

Biographical/Historical note

Photographer Constance Stuart Larrabee (1914-2000) was best known for her images taken in South Africa. Born in Cornwall, England, she was raised in Pretoria. She studied photography in London (1933-1935) and at the Bavarian State Institute for Photography in Munich (1935-1936), where she was influenced by the avant-garde work of artists at the Bauhaus. Returning to South Africa, Larrabee set up a studio and photographed many leading cultural and political figures of the period. During World War II she served as South Africa's first woman war correspondent, and in 1950 she married American Sterling Larrabee and moved to the United States. Larrabee began photographing the peoples of South Africa in the late 1930s. She published extensively, including a portfolio produced for the book Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1948). Her work has appeared in exhibits throughout the world, including the following: The Lovedu in Pretoria, 1947; The Family of Man (Museum of Modern Art, 1955); Tribal Photographs (Corcoran Art Gallery, 1984; and Go Well, My Child (National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1986).

Extent

circa 11000 Negatives (photographic) (black and white and color, 2.5 x 2.5 inches or smaller)

circa 5000 Photographic prints (silver gelatin, black and white, 8 x 10 inches or smaller)

circa 20 Linear Feet (Manuscript Materials)

5.4 Linear Feet (Office Files)

Date

1900-1997

Archival Repository

Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art

Identifier

EEPA.1998-006

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Negatives (photographic)

Photographic prints

Negatives

Citation

Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection, EEPA 1998-006, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Arrangement

Arranged by format into 3 series: Series 1: Photographs, circa 1936-circa 1988 Series 2: Manuscript Materials, circa 1936-circa 1996 Series 3: Office Files, 1900-1997

Processing Information

Metadata prepared by Kelsey Arrington-Ashford and Hannah Storch, 2018. Manuscript inventory by Emily Petro. Finding aid by Eden Orelove, 2019.

Rights

Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Genre/Form

Photographic prints

Negatives

Restrictions

Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.