[Businesses in Johannesburg, South Africa]
To the savvy shopper in boom-time Johannesburg, this business directory presented an abundance of consumer pleasures. Those in search of a saddle, a salve, or a pair of snakeskin slippers could find a purveyor in the pages of this album. Lush cyanotypes offer a sampling of wares, showing store interiors filled from floor to ceiling with mass-market imports and local specialties. Light catches cut crystal in a lamp showroom, and shoes dangle from display racks in a cobbler’s shop. Hunting trophies line the walls of a curio store, which boasts an artful array of ostrich feathers and a selection of spooled pelts sold by the bolt. Opposite the photographs, merchants spell out their stock in declarative letterpress: the Boozleman Philately House promotes “the greatest rarities” to stamp collectors, while W.E. Burmester & Co. claims “fancy goods of all descriptions,” not least of which are “LAMPS! LAMPS!! LAMPS!!!” Seen together, these ads catalogue the abundance of 1890s Johannesburg, newly founded and flourishing from discoveries of coal and gold.
Directories such as this were often illustrated in cyanotype, a photographic process familiar from architectural blueprints. Requiring no darkroom or developing chemicals, cyanotypy offered trade photographers a quick and crisp means of making images with minimal fuss. Used in the same period to document Johannesburg’s burgeoning mining industry, the process here illustrates its spoils.
Directories such as this were often illustrated in cyanotype, a photographic process familiar from architectural blueprints. Requiring no darkroom or developing chemicals, cyanotypy offered trade photographers a quick and crisp means of making images with minimal fuss. Used in the same period to document Johannesburg’s burgeoning mining industry, the process here illustrates its spoils.
Artwork Details
- Title: [Businesses in Johannesburg, South Africa]
- Artist: Unknown (South African)
- Date: 1890s
- Medium: Cyanotypes
- Dimensions: Images: approx. 5 11/16 × 7 1/2 in. (14.4 × 19.1 cm), each
Sheet: approx. 7 1/2 × 8 7/8 in. (19 × 22.5 cm), each - Classifications: Photographs, Albums
- Credit Line: Purchase, Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2022
- Object Number: 2022.284.1–.58
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.