Through the lens and pens of Dr Joseph Denfield (1911-1967)

Suitcase stories don’t always necessarily come bundled up in a forgotten suitcase. Sometimes they lie haphazardly in an old cardboard box, equally forgotten by successive generations. This particular story comes from the filing cabinets of the archives of a public library. No matter their hibernation vehicle the situation is always the same. Once the dust has been shaken off more often than not there lies within the tale of a life well-lived life. All it takes is for someone to open the suitcase or box or cabinet drawer and to slowly unravel the story. I have done this enough times by now to recognize at a glance if there is a story worth unravelling and perhaps retelling. In many cases the story turns out very differently from what I had imagined it would be.

This is my calling, self-imposed. To find and save our stories, to tell them far and wide, again and again, just to make sure they are not forgotten.

The African archive room of the East London library is named after a Dr. Joseph Denfield. Kelly Vos of the East London library unlocked the doors of this hallowed space and generously gave me carte blanche to explore as I see fit, for which I am grateful.

Much of the contents of this archive have come from his bequest. Two drawers of the many filing cabinets contain his personal records. Over the last few days I have had the exquisite pleasure of delving into his life. He packed plenty into his allotted 56 years.

Born in the UK in 1911 he qualified as a doctor in 1941, enlisting in the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1942. He served in Nigeria. By that stage he was a skilled photographer. Travelling extensively during time off from military duties he recorded images of the tribal peoples of Northern Nigeria. In 1947 an exhibition of his work was held at the British Museum, entitled “Pagan Life on the Nigerian Plains”. He donated his images from Nigeria to the British Museum, where they reside to this day.

In the same year 1947, he moved to East London in South Africa. He lived at 4 Turnberry Avenue in Bunker’s Hill in East London. I drove past his old house yesterday, now a guesthouse and a place that could comfortably house his collection if required. He had a wife but it is unclear as to whether he had any children. I assume he practiced as a doctor. He surely needed an income to fund his passion, although by the look of the house he lived in he must have been a successful doctor.

In the twenty years that he lived in East London he made an extraordinary contribution in two very specific areas, photography and history. He was referred to as an “outstanding amateur photographer and amateur historian”. The epitaph “amateur” can surely only be describing the absence of remuneration for his exploits, as his contribution is professional in every other way.

Dr. Denfield played a key role in the photographic circles of his time and has left some amazing material from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. His images and archives allow us to dwell on a period of creativity and observation that relied on very different means then compared to what we have available today. He was clearly an excellent photographer, judging by the number of times his images were shown at international exhibitions ("salons").

He was driven by the same heritage-salvage monster that motivates me. “If we don’t do something it will be lost forever”. Out of his photography obsession came his second legacy, the collection and curation of the photographic record of the history of East London. He scoured Southern Africa far and wide for old photographs of the area. I have read through the correspondence files of these efforts. His efforts were extraordinary in terms of reach, persistence and success.

Two books were published, one while he was alive and one posthumously. “Pioneer Port”, published in 1965, was the culmination of his research on the photographic record of East London. “Secure the Shadow” was a seminal work on the history of photography in the Cape Colony up until 1879, co-authored by Marjorie Bull and Dr. Joseph Denfield, published posthumously in 1970 after his death in 1967.

Both works touch me personally. I lived in East London for five years in the 1980s. In my personal collecting I have a reasonable accumulation of photographs from the 19th century. Photos from those times were, on the reverse side of the image, emblazoned with the credentials of the photographer who took the image. Every small town in the Cape Colony had a resident photographer. Dr. Denfield took it upon himself to map the existence and lives of these photographers. His legacy is invaluable.

In my research for this story I found links to a number of excellent academic articles (done between 2010 and 2014) on Dr. Denfield. All these articles were authored by one Phindezwa Mnyaka. She had very clearly sat in the same archive room as me, sifting through the very same records as I did. I haven't yet fully read her published work on Dr. Denfield but I have come across references by her to how she felt when she was going through his archives. I wonder why she decided on Dr. Denfield as the focus point of her research?

Her articles (and her doctoral thesis “Re-tracing representations and identities in Twentieth Century South African and African Photography: Joseph Denfield, regime of seeing and alternative visual histories” (2012, 341 pages)) will no doubt shed some light on my question above.

We saw the same material through different lenses, no surprise really. I am an older white guy, moulded by the times in which I lived. I would very much like to sit down with her and compare notes and perhaps write about the conversations we might have. I think she is currently a lecturer at Rhodes University. I will find out in due course.

I am not sure what happened to Dr. Denfield’s image collection. I am assuming it has ended up in the East London Museum but perhaps it lies in one of the other cabinets in the archives section of the library. I will find out tomorrow when I visit the East London Museum and speak to Kevin Cole, a man who has recently helped one of my friends, veterinary surgeon (retired) Pierre Singery, on the small matter of the origins of mankind. That is for another story however, which is Pierre’s to tell.

This article serves as a brief introduction to the life and contribution of no ordinary man. I think it is worthy of a more languid unpacking. I will dig deeper on his contribution to photography in the years he was alive. Equally there is scope to explore further on the photographic history of East London.

I am as interested however in the man himself. Who was Dr. Denfield? How was he seen by his family, friends and fellow enthusiasts during his lifetime? Nearly sixty years after his death what exactly is his legacy?

I don't know what the eventual outcome of this will be. A series of articles? Certainly a public talk. Perhaps some form of exhibition? There is enough material, especially if we can locate his images. I wonder if Phindeswa might want to collaborate with me on this project?

Dr. Denfield doesn’t deserve to be stuck away in a dusty and forgotten cabinet drawer. It is time for him to be seen again. Let us see where opening his cabinet drawers takes us.