(Sensuous) Ways of Seeing in Stone Town, Zanzibar: patina, pose, punctum

This study introduces a novel approach to interpreting the Ranchhod and Rohit Oza vernacular photography collection from Stone Town, Zanzibar (1930–present), challenging conventional historical or cultural readings. By focusing on the medium's characteristics—patina, pose, and punctum—the research offers a 'sensuous' framework that emphasizes incompleteness and visual perception over narrative completeness. This method shifts the interpretation of the Capital Art Studio (CAS) archive away from illustrative history toward an experiential, sensory engagement with the images. The study draws on John Berger's Ways of Seeing to recontextualize how photography is viewed, curated, and analyzed, providing a fresh lens for understanding vernacular visual culture in UNESCO-listed Stone Town.

Gupta, P. (2018). (Sensuous) Ways of Seeing in Stone Town, Zanzibar: patina, pose, punctum. Critical Arts, 32(1), 59–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2018.1431298