Research pathways in African Studies: an interpretation of selected photographs depicting traditional economic activities in the Willis Eugene Bell photo archive

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Periodical article

Title:	Research pathways in African Studies: an interpretation of selected photographs depicting traditional economic activities in the Willis Eugene Bell photo archive
Author:	Laryea, Korklu A.
Year:	2012
Periodical:	African Research and Documentation (ISSN 0305-862X)
Issue:	118
Pages:	51-68
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	African studies collections photography subsistence economy
Abstract:	Photographs do not seem to serve as primary sources of information for academic study in Ghana. A reason could be that they are not seen as documents in their own right and thus are not included in the collection development policies of libraries and archives. Even if they are not recognized as primary sources for academic inquiry in Ghana, their value is well documented elsewhere and western academic institutions devote financial resources to make their collections accessible to users. This paper is devoted to the interpretation of randomly selected photographs which depict various traditional economic activities from the Willis Eugene Bell Photo Archive. The paper looks at the challenges and prospects of using the collection, and makes suggestions on how existing photographic collections may be handled by heritage institutions. The eleven photographs used here depict directly and indirectly trading, fishing, hairdressing, and farming, and serve as windows on the past. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]