SILENT FILM · 1890–1929
MARAIS FAMILY
Every leaf or every branches makes a great tree
Silent Film · 1890–1929
Roots on the Highveld
Huguenot names, Highveld farms, ox wagons and the gold rush on the Witwatersrand, held still in silver and grain.
7 PHOTOGRAPHS · FROM THE ARCHIVE
Ox wagons and mule teams fill the main street of a mining town. Wagons like these carried families, tools and supplies to the new gold fields, and every store along the road sold groceries, hardware and hope.
Sepia Portrait · 1930–1959
From the farm to the mine
Drought, war and depression. Families leave the land, sons go underground, and new mining towns rise on the West Rand.
9 PHOTOGRAPHS · FROM THE ARCHIVE
A city street in the 1920s: cloche hats, long coats and a double-decker bus. The towns were growing fast, and young women were stepping out into a new, modern world.
Faded Colour · 1960–1979
Gold-mining town
Carletonville. A shaft contract, a rescue underground, and a young nurse from Franschhoek.
6 PHOTOGRAPHS · FROM THE ARCHIVE
Bright Analog · 1980–1999
Across the Atlantic
A hard decision, and a family crossing to Houston, Texas: some went ahead, the others followed.
6 PHOTOGRAPHS · FROM THE ARCHIVE
Early Digital Glass · 2000–2014
Scanned and saved
The old prints come out of the shoebox on both sides of the ocean: every portrait and carte de visite, kept.
7 PHOTOGRAPHS · FROM THE ARCHIVE
Today · 2015–2026
Two countries, one tree
South African roots, American branches, and the next generation carrying the family forward.
7 PHOTOGRAPHS · FROM THE ARCHIVE
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