(DE BEERS CONSOLIDATED MINES, SOUTH AFRICA) Archive of approximately 280 remarkable photographs relating to DeBeers' mining sites during the three-year period from 1902-05. With images depicting every aspect of excavation and construction, including lengthy typological sequences shot by an unidentified photographer of above ground operations; with 25 photographs of drawings and renderings. Printing-out paper (265) and silver (15) prints, most of the images measuring 5x8 inches (12.7x20.3 cm.), a few are smaller, with a date handwritten in the negative. 1902-05
A rare archive relating to De Beers, a South African company that has historically been the world's largest producer and distributor of diamonds. This historic group of images apparently relates to the discovery of large diamond resources near Pretoria and along the coast of German South West Africa (now Namibia) in 1902 which diluted De Beers' control of the diamond market.
The photographs were shot by a professional photographer and include a range of stunning images capturing the operation's vast setting well as sequences involving super-sized machinery, close ups of turbines and gears, and scenes of men at work.
