The tradition of portraiture in the late 19th-century often intimidated the sitters, and this selection of 19th-century images focuses on those who confronted the technology and retained their composure and identity in the face of it. In the 20th-century subjects are usually more at ease with the photographic process and the interaction between subject and photographer is not as fraught and problematic. Consequently there is a direct and engaging connection between subject and photographer in the images by David Goldblatt; Fazal Sheikh working in the Somali refugee camp, Mandera, Kenya; Guy Tillim photographing child soldiers in the DRC and Sierra Leone; Pieter Hugo in his series of portraits of people with an albino condition; and Paul Alberts in his 'identity book' photographs taken at the time of the 1994 election in South Africa. This objective portrayal of the subjects in a matter-of-fact, usually frontal, manner is interesting twisted by Malick Sidibe whose portraits of Bamako, Mali, are of the backs of people because their Muslim tradition discourages images of the self.

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Unidentified photographer, Cape, circa 1870 'Damara servant girl, S Africa'	S B Barnard, Cape, circa 1870 'Bush boy, S Africa'	Unidentified photographer, Cape Town, circa 1870 'Mozambique'	S B Barnard, Cape, 1871 'Hottentot S Africa' (Portrait of /A!Kunta)
Unidentified photographer, Cape Town, circa 1870 'Kaffir girl, S Africa'	Attributed to S B Barnard, Cape Town, circa 1870 'Korrunna girl, S Africa'	Unidentified photographer, probably Somali, late 19th-century Portrait of a man, possibly Sudanese	Charles Dodds, circa 1900 Mother and child
Unidentified photographer, Natal or Cape, circa 1880 'Zoulou'	Unidentified photographer, Cape, circa 1880 'Bushwoman 100 years old'	Unidentified photographer, probably Cape, circa 1890 'Bushman'	Charles Dodds, circa 1900 Couple with facial scarification wearing western dress
Paul Alberts Mr B.D. Madiha, posing for his free ID photograph for south Africa's General Elections, Winburg, 1994	Paul Alberts Mr Lebona, posing for his free ID photograph for South Africa's General Elections, Winburg, 1994	Fazal Sheikh Fatuma Abdi Sahal, Somali refugee camp, Mandera, Kenya, 1992 sold	Fazal Sheikh Amina Ahmed Abdi and Fatima Mohammed Said, Somali refugee camp, Mandera, Kenya 1992 sold
Sue Williamson Better lives: Nelson Manuel, 2003	Sue Williamson Better lives: Albert and Isabelle Ngandu, 2003	Sue Williamson Better lives: Francois Bangurambona, 2003	Sue Williamson Better lives: Deka Yusuf Farrh and Nisa, 2003
Sue Williamson Better lives: Richard Belalufu, 2003	Sue Williamson Better lives: Cynthia Gabriel, 2003	Eileen Perrier Untitled from the series Red, Gold and Green, London	Eileen Perrier Untitled from the series Red, Gold and Green, London
Guy Tillim Kamajoor (hunter) militias, Koidu, Sierra Leone, 2001	Guy Tillim Kamajoor (hunter) militias, Koidu, Sierra Leone, 2001	Guy Tillim Kamajoor (hunter) militias, Koidu, Sierra Leone, 2001	Guy Tillim Kamajoor (hunter) militias, Koidu, Sierra Leone, 2001
Guy Tillim Sisters Bertha Chiquia and Jamba Rosa (left), and sisters Louisa Vuyuyu and Maria Namunga, Kuito, Angola 2002	Pieter Hugo Steven Mohapi, South Africa, 2003	Pieter Hugo Raymond Nteo, South Africa, 2003	Pieter Hugo Lindi Msiza, South Africa, 2003
Malik Sidibe, Bamako, Mali 'Vues de dos, 2002'	Malik Sidibe, Bamako, Mali 'Vues de dos, 2001'	Malik Sidibe, Bamako, Mali 'Mady et son ami, Vues de dos, 2001'	Andreas Vlachakis Roene Majiet, Calvinia, 2002
David Goldblatt Philamon Mabunda, Flat cleaner, Geraldine Court, Hillbrow, Johannesburg, July 1972	David Goldblatt A maid on Abel Road, Hillbrow, Johannesburg, 1973	David Goldblatt A widow of three months whose doek will gradually be lifted from here eyes as her widowhood continues, near Flagstaff, Transkei, 1975	Andreas Vlachakis Heinrich Smith, Calvinia, 2002