Sir Seretse Khama and Ruth Khama :: Mmegi Online

As the 50th anniversary gets closer, it will become increasingly obvious that the country is without a properly equipped and staffed photographic archive and will therefore be poorly placed to locate the kind of photos that will be needed and even less equipped to interpret them.

How many have been lost? So let’s take this particular photo as a test of sorts – not least because it is an unknown, having been neither exhibited nor published.

It’s a character photo because it shows a very relaxed smiling Seretse, Ruth by his side busy taking photographs. I am taking late 1966 or 1967 as its likely date partly because the photographer has explained that this was one of several that he took when Seretse was touring the country and partly because, after Independence, I assume that it would have been an absolute priority for him to visit as many places in the country as he was able.

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