Michael Godby, a professor of art history at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, presented a lecture on the evolution of South African photography Thursday night.
Godby, who spoke as a part of the Harn Eminent Scholar lecture series, said South African photographers changed their styles based on historical events, including protests, strikes and religious practices.
During the struggles of the apartheid in the 1980s, a majority of the photographs taken were for newspapers, while a few photographers were commissioned from private agencies in England and the U.S., Godby said.
Now, more than 20 years later, photographs representing a more positive South Africa are being displayed in small South African galleries and museums, he said.
After the presentation, Tom Southall, the Harn's curator of photography, said the art was not for the common people.
"Like the Farm Security Administration during the American Great Depression, so too were photographs taken of the people but not for the people," he said, adding that it's changing now.
He said contemporary and modern art is becoming more popular.
Helen Safa, a retired UF professor of anthropology and Latin American studies, said she doesn't believe art or photography are getting more popular in South Africa.
Safa, who traveled to South Africa in 2001, said the money in South Africa is spent on items like cars, not art.
If South Africans are not willing to buy and display their own art, the photographers will continue to sell their work in American and European galleries, she said.
