Abstract
In this study I examine how digital photographic archives created by three contemporary
documentary photographers working in KwaZulu-Natal can be reimagined using a collective
co-curatorial approach. Existing scholarship in African photographic histories and critical
archival studies has highlighted the extractive and often flattening tendencies of traditional
archival practices, particularly on digital platforms where neoliberal standardisation can
change context and result in a loss of nuance. My research locates itself within these debates
by questioning the assumption that digital archives function as neutral, fixed repositories.
The study focuses on the problem of “flattening” in digital archival systems, how
photographers’ complex identities and experiences, local knowledge and self-reflexive
practices are often reduced or lost. To address this, I worked collaboratively with three
photographers (including myself) to co-curate selections from the Contemporary Archive
Project’s digital archives and unpack our experiences in making them. Through qualitative
methods including audio-recorded sessions, reflective conversations, iterative sequencing and
analysis of digital versus physical materiality, the project explores how meaning is produced,
negotiated and transformed in a shared curatorial project.
The findings show that co-curation introduces new layers, contradictions and contextual
knowledge that resist singular interpretations and open up alternative ways of understanding
digital archives. By foregrounding nuance, authorship, and collaboration, the research
demonstrates that digital photographic archives can function as dynamic processes rather than
static screens for photography. This approach offers a model for countering traditional
archival practices and contributes to emerging discussions on how digital archives in Africa
can be produced by addressing issues of power dynamics, through an intersectional lens.