In some instances, Drum photographers had to develop tactful methods of obtaining photographs to avoid the wrath of white officials and the confiscation of their equipment. This group was later joined by Ernest Cole, Alf Kumalo, Victor Xashimba, Gopal Naransamy, Chester Maharaj, GR Naidoo and others.
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Some of the first photographers included: Jurgen Schadeberg, an investigative photographer who later became the photo editor of the magazine Bob Gosani, who started off at Drum as a messenger, but was later moved to the photographic department, where he became Schadeberg's darkroom assistant, and went on to become one of the magazine's best photographers and Peter Magubane, who was hired in 1955 as a driver and a messenger, but over time became more interested in photography, and was eventually transferred to the photographic department. Drum's picture features – bright covers, jazz, girls and crime stories – appealed to readers, and the magazine's circulation increased. Photography was an especially important component of Drum's success, especially because photography served as an accessible and 'realistic' means with which to document protest action, and appeal to a largely illiterate readership. There were few magazines like Drum, and it attracted those interested in writing and photography and allowed them to develop their skills. The few staff members at this time consisted of a secretary, Sampson and sports editor Henry Nxumalo, who later became known as 'Mr Drum'.Īs there were no educational facilities for black journalists and photographers at this time, many attached themselves to this publication as it allowed them to practise their craft. The board met once a month to generate ideas for new articles. To ensure that the magazine reflected Black life, they established an editorial board that included some of the leading political and cultural figures of the time: Joe Rathebe, Dan 'Sport' Twala, Dr Alfred Xuma and Andy Anderson. The magazine became an important platform for emergent African nationalist movements.Īnthony Sampson, a friend of Bailey's from Oxford, was appointed editor, and under his leadership the magazine continued to grow and widely influence the new urban black culture. The image of the magazine was transformed, and its content began highlighting urban black culture. Bailey soon moved the magazine's headquarters to Johannesburg and re-named it Drum.
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It was only when Jim Bailey – a former RAF pilot and the son of a South African mining baron – took over the magazine in 1951 that the publication grew. The content consisted mainly of tribal preaching and folk tales, and despite a readership of about 20 000, the magazine was not financially successful. The South African government allegedly sent copies abroad to make evident their success in managing the 'Bantu'. A 1959 article in Time magazine, entitled 'Drum Beat in Africa', stated that 240,000 copies of Drum were distributed across Africa, to countries like Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.įirst known as 'The African Drum', the magazine was launched by Robert Crisp, a journalist and broadcaster, supposedly to depict Black South Africans as 'noble savages'. However, the true reach of the magazine surpassed merely 'hundreds' of people, and became the most widely read magazine in Africa at the time. The quote above suggests the popularity of the magazine that was to become known simply as Drum. Wherever it stopped, hundreds of people swarmed about it, buying the magazine: The African Drum.' - extract from 'South African Drumbeats', TIME Magazine, 1952 'In the teeming Negro and coloured shantytowns of Johannesburg, where newspapers and magazines are a rarity, a truck piled high with magazines rumbled through the unpaved streets last week.
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Drum was so successful that Bailey used its urban, racy style to produce a number of East and West African editions of the magazine. It was taken over by Jim Bailey who, with the assistance of a team of writers and photographers, re-designed and rebranded the magazine, thereby making it more dynamic. The magazine, initially established as ‘The African Drum’ by journalist and broadcaster Robert Crisp, was not at first financially successful. This year marks the magazine’s 60 th anniversary, which we are celebrating by publishing new material and key profiles over the next month. The magazine became an important platform for a new generation of writers and photographers who changed the way Black people were represented in society. The establishment of Drum Magazine in the 1950s, notwithstanding the newly-elected Nationalist Party’s policy of Apartheid, reflected the dynamic changes that were taking place among the new urban Black South African – African, Indian and Coloured – communities.