Photography and Mission: The Collection of the White Fathers (210048-WS 26/27)

Since 2021, the Center for Religious Studies (CERES) at Ruhr University Bochum has held an extensive collection of materials related to the Missionaries of Africa (“White Fathers”), which was donated to the institute by the missionary order for documentation and research. This collection includes, among other things, a collection of analog photographs (slides, negatives, and prints) comprising approximately 29,000 items from the African mission fields and the German branches, which has so far been only partially cataloged.

Photography was used early on by the African missionaries, as by numerous other missionary communities, to solicit financial, moral, and personnel support for missionary work in Europe. The photos, which were used for presentations and in publications such as mission journals, had a reach that remains underestimated to this day. Like colonial photography, mission photography has had a lasting influence on European perceptions of non-European cultures and religions and continues to have an impact today, particularly in the public relations work of charitable aid organizations. At the same time, missionary photographs have their own purposes and intentions, motifs, forms of representation, and target audiences, which are relevant for cataloging a collection of missionary photographs. Not least, missionary photographs are significant sources for the historiography of local societies in Africa.

In this archival seminar/teaching-research project, we aim to begin an exploratory project. The course focuses on the overarching themes of missionary and religious history, as well as the history of photography and missionary photography. It is offered in collaboration between Prof. Steffen Siegel (Chair of the History of Photography at the Folkwang University of the Arts) and CERES.

Following introductions to the various topics and guidance on methodological approaches, seminar participants will conduct in-depth examinations of selected sub-collections (a small number of photographs and further relevant holdings) by researching contexts, working with archival sources, and consulting comparative materials. A high degree of initiative and interest in the subject matter are prerequisites for participation in this course.