Article cover
Essay

Open Access

Postal Profusion and Archival Scarcity: ­Jacob Vitta’s Photographs of Mining in the Gold Coast Colony as Prints and Postcards

Malte Radtki

Published online:

06 Oct 2025

Abstract

Abstract

Picture postcards originating from former colonial contexts are notably more prevalent than the photographic prints they were based on, and these postcards' abundance is mainly reflected in collections in those regions to which they were sent. Embedded in colonialist communication, these images continue to shape the history of colonial-era photography. This article examines the photographic practices of Jacob Vitta (?–1914), a photographer and publisher from the former Gold Coast Colony who documented the landscape ravaged by mechanized gold mining. I trace the practices and networks involved in the production and dissemination of Vitta's postcards and photographs in order to highlight the contradictory discursive contexts in which his photographs appeared.

Other articles in this issue:

Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte Issues

Volume 88 (2025)
Volume 87 (2024)
Volume 86 (2023)
Volume 85 (2022)
Volume 84 (2021)
Volume 83 (2020)
Volume 82 (2019)
Volume 81 (2018)
Volume 80 (2017)
Volume 79 (2016)

Get instant, unlimited access to this journal

Related titles

Would you like to receive monthly information about new publications and events?

DKV
EUR
English

Deutscher Kunstverlag

Genthiner Straße 13

10785 Berlin

+49 (0)30 / 27 90 76 - 0

Neumarkter Straße 28

81673 München

Contact us for book orders