Research Profile

Kylie Thomas

Biography

Kylie Thomas is a Senior Lecturer at the Radical Humanities Laboratory and in Art History at University College Cork. She is also a Senior Researcher at NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, where she co-directs the NIOD ImageLab, a project that focuses on war and visual culture. 

She writes about photography, violence and history; about LGBT and anti-racist activism; and about South African politics and society during and after apartheid.

She is the author of the book Impossible Mourning: HIV/AIDS and Visuality after Apartheid (2014) and co-editor of two edited collections, Photography In and Out of Africa: Iterations with Difference (2016) and Women and Photography in Africa: Creative Practices and Feminist Challenges (2020).  

She holds a PhD from the University of Cape Town, South Africa and an MA from the University of British Columbia, Canada. During her PhD she was a visiting fellow at the University of California at Berkeley and has since held teaching positions and fellowships at universities and research institutes in South Africa, The Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, Canada, England and Italy. 

You can find out more about her research at the following sites: 

https://www.photographyandresistance.com/

https://www.niodimagelab.nl/

Research Interests

Social Justice 
Visual Activism
History and Theory of Photography 
African Studies 
War and Violence
Resistance

Research Grants

 ProjectFunding
Body
Start DateEnd DateAward
Women, Photography and Resistance in Transnational PerspectiveEuropean Commission01-SEP-1931-AUG-21
South African National Research Foundation GrantNational Research Foundation, South Africa01-FEB-1730-AUG-19
Gender, Violence, and Visual Activism: A Creative and Critical ExchangeVolkswagen Stiftung/Andrew W. Mellon Foundation01-JUN-1330-JUN-16
Moore Institute Visiting FellowNational University of Ireland, Galway01-MAR-1731-MAR-17
African Humanities Program FellowshipAmerican Council of Learned Societies01-AUG-1201-AUG-13
Humanities Institute Visiting FellowshipUniversity College Dublin01-APR-1730-APR-17
Visiting Research Fellowship, African Studies Centre, Leiden UniversityLeiden University01-JUN-1730-JUN-17
Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies International Visiting Research ScholarPeter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, University of British Columbia01-MAY-1830-JUN-18
Peter E Palmquist Memorial Fund for Historical Photographic Research GrantPeter E. Palmquist Foundation01-JAN-18
Moving Light: Photography and Transnational HistoryEuropean Commission01-SEP-1730-JUN-18
Picturing Resistance: Visual Activism and Transnational Histories of PhotographyBritish Academy01-SEP-1828-FEB-19
European Holocaust Research Infrastructure FellowshipEuropean Commission01-JAN-1717-FEB-17

Publications

Books

 YearPublication
(2014)Impossible Mourning: HIV/AIDS and Visuality after apartheid.
Kylie Thomas (2014) Impossible Mourning: HIV/AIDS and Visuality after apartheid. South Africa/ United States: Wits University Press & Bucknell University Press. [Details]

Edited Books

 YearPublication
(2020)Women and Photography in Africa: Creative Practices and Feminist Challenges
Darren Newbury; Lorena Rizzo and Kylie Thomas (Ed.). (2020) Women and Photography in Africa: Creative Practices and Feminist Challenges UK: Routledge. [Details]
(2016)Photography in and out of Africa: Iterations with Difference
Kylie Thomas and Louise Green (Ed.). (2016) Photography in and out of Africa: Iterations with Difference UK: Routledge. [Details]
(2004)Nobody Ever Said AIDS: Poems and Stories from Southern Africa
Nobantu Rasebotsa, Meg Samuelson and Kylie Thomas (Ed.). (2004) Nobody Ever Said AIDS: Poems and Stories from Southern Africa Cape Town: Kwela Books.   [Details]

Journal Volume Edited

 YearPublication
(2023)Special Issue: Formations of Feminist Strike.
Kylie Thomas; Ksenia Robbe; Senka Neuman (2023) Special Issue: Formations of Feminist Strike. Canada: Journal Volume Edited   [Details]
(2022)Photography and Resistance.
Kylie Thomas (2022) Photography and Resistance. Journal Volume Edited   [Details]
(2014)African Photographies: Iterations with Difference II.
Kylie Thomas and Louise Green (2014) African Photographies: Iterations with Difference II. London: Journal Volume Edited   [Details]
(2014)Special Issue: African Photographies: Iterations with Difference I.
Kylie Thomas and Louise Green (2014) Special Issue: African Photographies: Iterations with Difference I. London: Journal Volume Edited   [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

 YearPublication
(2024)'Review: Colonial Legacies: Contemporary Lens-Based Art and the Democratic Republic of Congo'
Kylie Thomas (2024) 'Review: Colonial Legacies: Contemporary Lens-Based Art and the Democratic Republic of Congo'. BMGN – Low Countries Historical Review, 139 [DOI] [Details]
(2023)'Seeing Sudan: visual archives in a time of war'
Kylie Thomas (2023) 'Seeing Sudan: visual archives in a time of war'. Safundi,   [DOI] [Details]
(2023)'Formations of Feminist Strike: Connecting Diverse Practices, Contexts, and Geographies'
Kylie Thomas; Ksenia Robbe; Senka Neuman (2023) 'Formations of Feminist Strike: Connecting Diverse Practices, Contexts, and Geographies'. Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice, 44 (2):1-13   [Details]
(2022)'Unravelling Anti-Feminism: On the Domestication of Resistance'
Kylie Thomas (2022) 'Unravelling Anti-Feminism: On the Domestication of Resistance'. Journal of Cultural Analysis and Social Change, 7 (2)   [DOI] [Full Text] [Details]
(2022)'Undoing Gendered Expressions of Grief: Dora Kallmus’ Post-War ‘Slaughterhouse’ Photographs (1949−1958)'
Kylie Thomas (2022) 'Undoing Gendered Expressions of Grief: Dora Kallmus’ Post-War ‘Slaughterhouse’ Photographs (1949−1958)'. 33 (2) [DOI] [Full Text] [Details]
(2021)'Bitter Emotion: Affective Archives and Transnational Solidarity against Apartheid'
Thomas K. (2021) 'Bitter Emotion: Affective Archives and Transnational Solidarity against Apartheid'. Interventions. International Journal of Postcolonial Studies, 23 (1):42-60 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details]
(2021)'Digital Visual Activism: Photography and the Re-Opening of the Unresolved Truth and Reconciliation Commission Cases in Post-Apartheid South Africa'
Thomas K. (2021) 'Digital Visual Activism: Photography and the Re-Opening of the Unresolved Truth and Reconciliation Commission Cases in Post-Apartheid South Africa'. Photography And Culture, 14 (3):297-318 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details]
(2018)'Re-turning History: Helen Levitt, Jansje Wissema, the Burning Museum Collective, and Photographs of Children in the Streets of New York and Cape Town'
Thomas K. (2018) 'Re-turning History: Helen Levitt, Jansje Wissema, the Burning Museum Collective, and Photographs of Children in the Streets of New York and Cape Town'. Critical Arts, 32 (1):122-136 [DOI] [Details]
(2018)'Decolonisation is now: photography and student-social movements in South Africa'
Thomas K. (2018) 'Decolonisation is now: photography and student-social movements in South Africa'. Visual Studies, 33 (1):98-110 [DOI] [Details]
(2018)'Exhuming Apartheid: Photography, disappearance and return'
Kylie Thomas (2018) 'Exhuming Apartheid: Photography, disappearance and return'. Cahiers d'études Africaines,   [Details]
(2018)'Remember Marikana: Violence and Visual Activism in Post-Apartheid South Africa'
Kylie Thomas (2018) 'Remember Marikana: Violence and Visual Activism in Post-Apartheid South Africa'. ASAP/Journal, 3 (2):401-422   [Details]
(2015)'Mourning time: speculations on “Urban cemeteries in Swaziland: materialising dignity”'
Thomas K. (2015) 'Mourning time: speculations on “Urban cemeteries in Swaziland: materialising dignity”'. Anthropology Southern Africa, 38 (3-4):372-374 [DOI] [Details]
(2014)'A density of texture: Reading photography from South, North and West Africa'
Green L.;Thomas K. (2014) 'A density of texture: Reading photography from South, North and West Africa'. Social Dynamics, :439-443 [DOI] [Details]
(2014)'Stereoscopic visions: Reading colonial and contemporary African photography'
Thomas K.;Green L. (2014) 'Stereoscopic visions: Reading colonial and contemporary African photography'. Social Dynamics, :1-11 [DOI] [Details]
(2014)'Photography and the Future in Jansje Wissema's Images of District Six'
Thomas K. (2014) 'Photography and the Future in Jansje Wissema's Images of District Six'. Safundi, 15 (2-3):283-305 [DOI] [Details]
(2013)'Digital visual activism: A profile of Inkanyiso'
Thomas, Kylie; (2013) 'Digital visual activism: A profile of Inkanyiso'. Feminist Africa, [Details]
(2013)'The plague act'
Green L.;Ramutsindela M.;Thomas K. (2013) 'The plague act'. Social Dynamics, 39 (2):278-281 [DOI] [Details]
(2013)'Resisting the lure of deferral: Realising the South African National Development Plan'
Alloggio S.;Thomas K. (2013) 'Resisting the lure of deferral: Realising the South African National Development Plan'. Social Dynamics, 39 (1):108-110 [DOI] [Details]
(2013)'Political transition and sexual and gender-based violence in South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe: A comparative analysis'
Thomas K.;Masinjila M.;Bere E. (2013) 'Political transition and sexual and gender-based violence in South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe: A comparative analysis'. Gender and development, 21 (3):519-532 [DOI] [Details]
(2012)'Wounding Apertures: Violence, Affect and Photography during and after Apartheid'
Thomas, K. (2012) 'Wounding Apertures: Violence, Affect and Photography during and after Apartheid'. Kronos,   [Details]
(2012)'Special section: The ruins of apartheid and the future of research in South Africa:The university in question'
Thomas K.;Green L. (2012) 'Special section: The ruins of apartheid and the future of research in South Africa:The university in question'. Social Dynamics, 38 (1):1-2 [DOI] [Details]
(2012)'Islam and HIV/AIDS: An interview with Fatima Hassan'
Thomas K. (2012) 'Islam and HIV/AIDS: An interview with Fatima Hassan'. Social Dynamics, :295-302 [DOI] [Details]
(2012)'Photography, Apartheid, and the “Road to Reconciliation”'
Kylie Thomas (2012) 'Photography, Apartheid, and the “Road to Reconciliation”'. Transition, [DOI] [Details]
(2012)'Forgetting responsibility : Hannah Arendt and the work of (undoing) psychic resistance post-apartheid'
Sergio Alloggio and Kylie Thomas (2012) 'Forgetting responsibility : Hannah Arendt and the work of (undoing) psychic resistance post-apartheid'. African Yearbook of Rhetoric, 3 (2):119-130   [Full Text] [Details]
(2010)'Zanele Muholi's intimate archive: Photography and post-apartheid Lesbian lives'
Thomas K. (2010) 'Zanele Muholi's intimate archive: Photography and post-apartheid Lesbian lives'. Safundi, 11 (4):421-436 [DOI] [Details]
(2008)'Selling sorrow: Testimony, representation and images of HIV-positive South African women'
Thomas K. (2008) 'Selling sorrow: Testimony, representation and images of HIV-positive South African women'. Social Dynamics, :216-226 [DOI] [Details]

Book Chapters

 YearPublication
(2023)'Crossing the Line'
Kylie Thomas (2023) 'Crossing the Line' In: Costanza Caraffa and Almut Goldhahn (eds). Encounters in an Archive. Massimo Ricciardo. Objects of Migration/ Photo-Objects of Art History. Foligno, Italy: Viaindustriae Publishing.   [Details]
(2023)'Refusing Transitional Time: Re-opening the Unresolved Truth and Reconciliation Commission Cases and the Future of Memory in Postapartheid South Africa'
Kylie Thomas (2023) 'Refusing Transitional Time: Re-opening the Unresolved Truth and Reconciliation Commission Cases and the Future of Memory in Postapartheid South Africa' In: Ksenia Robbe (eds). Remembering Transitions: Local Revisions and Global Crossings in Culture and Media. Germany: De Gruyter.   [DOI] [Details]
(2022)'Atomized Solidarity and New Shapes of Resistance: Visual Activism in South Africa after Apartheid'
Kylie Thomas (2022) 'Atomized Solidarity and New Shapes of Resistance: Visual Activism in South Africa after Apartheid' In: Mey-Yen Moriuchi and Lesley Shipley (eds). The Routledge Companion to Art and Activism in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Routledge.   [DOI] [Details]
(2021)'A Crisis of Time, a Time of Crisis'
Kylie Thomas (2021) 'A Crisis of Time, a Time of Crisis' In: Maria Boletsi, Natashe Lemos Dekker, Kasia Mika, Ksenia Robbe (eds). (Un)timely Crises: Chronotopes and Critique. UK: Palgrave Macmillan. [Details]
(2020)'New Lines of Sight: Perspectives on Women and Photography in Africa'
Kylie Thomas, Darren Newbury and Lorena Rizzo (2020) 'New Lines of Sight: Perspectives on Women and Photography in Africa' In: Kylie Thomas, Lorena Rizzo and Darren Newbury (eds). Women and Photography in Africa: Creative Practices and Feminist Challenges. UK: Routledge. [Details]
(2017)'Rage against the state: Political Funerals and Queer Visual Activism in post-apartheid South Africa'
Kylie Thomas (2017) 'Rage against the state: Political Funerals and Queer Visual Activism in post-apartheid South Africa' In: Kim Miller and Brenda Schmahmann (eds). Public Art in South Africa: Bronze warriors and Plastic Presidents. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. [Details]
(2014)'Resisting Archival Ends'
Kylie Thomas (2014) 'Resisting Archival Ends' In: Carolyn Hamilton and Pippa Skotnes (eds). Uncertain Curature: In and Out of the Archive. Cape Town: Jacana Media. [Details]
(2014)'The Transgressive Visions of Jabulani Chen Pereira'
Kylie Thomas (2014) 'The Transgressive Visions of Jabulani Chen Pereira' In: Zethu Matebeni (eds). Reclaiming Afrikan: Queer Perspectives on Sexual and Gender Identities. Cape Town: Modjaji Books. [Details]
(2013)'Zanele Muholi’s Intimate Archive: Photography and Post-apartheid Lesbian Lives'
Kylie Thomas (2013) 'Zanele Muholi’s Intimate Archive: Photography and Post-apartheid Lesbian Lives' In: Sokari Ekine and Hakima Abbas (eds). The Queer African Reader. Nairobi: Pambazuka Press.   [Details]
(2010)'What is Left Unsaid'
Kylie Thomas (2010) 'What is Left Unsaid' In: Natalie Ridgard, Helen Struthers and Anton Harber (eds). What is Left Unsaid: Reporting the South African HIV Epidemic. Cape Town: Jacana. [Details]
(2007)'Photographic Images, HIV/AIDS and Shifting Subjectivities in South Africa'
Kylie Thomas (2007) 'Photographic Images, HIV/AIDS and Shifting Subjectivities in South Africa' In: Robert Malow, Renee T. White and Cynthia Pope (eds). HIV/ AIDS: Global Frontiers in Prevention/ Intervention A Reader. New York: Routledge. [Details]
(2007)'“Bodies of Courage: Reading Self-Portraits of South African HIV Positive Women”'
Kylie Thomas (2007) '“Bodies of Courage: Reading Self-Portraits of South African HIV Positive Women”' In: Christina Lammer and Kim Sawchuk (eds). Embodiment. Vienna, Austria: Locker Verlag.   [Details]

Published Reports

 YearPublication
(2013)“A progressive constitution meets lived daily reality: Sexuality and the Law in South Africa”.
Kylie Thomas, Kerry Williams and Tessa Lewin (2013) “A progressive constitution meets lived daily reality: Sexuality and the Law in South Africa”. Institute for Development Studies, Brighton, UK.   [Full Text] [Details]
(2013)The Power of Naming: 'Senseless Violence' and Violent Law in post-apartheid South Africa.
Kylie Thomas (2013) The Power of Naming: 'Senseless Violence' and Violent Law in post-apartheid South Africa. CSVR, Cape Town, South Africa.   [Full Text] [Details]
(2013)“Homophobia, Injustice and ‘Corrective Rape’ in Post-Apartheid South Africa”.
Kylie Thomas (2013) “Homophobia, Injustice and ‘Corrective Rape’ in Post-Apartheid South Africa”. Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, South Africa.   [Full Text] [Details]

Articles

 YearPublication
(2024)Peter Magubane: courageous photographer who chronicled South Africa’s struggle for freedom.
Kylie Thomas (2024) Peter Magubane: courageous photographer who chronicled South Africa’s struggle for freedom. Articles   [Details]
(2023)Ernest Cole: South Africa’s most famous photobook has been republished after 55 years.
Kylie Thomas; (2023) Ernest Cole: South Africa’s most famous photobook has been republished after 55 years. London: Articles [Details]
(2020)Jürgen Schadeberg: chronicler of life across apartheid’s divides.
Kylie Thomas (2020) Jürgen Schadeberg: chronicler of life across apartheid’s divides. South Africa: Articles [Details]
(2020)Glimpses into the History of Street Photography in South Africa.
Kylie Thomas; (2020) Glimpses into the History of Street Photography in South Africa. South Africa: Articles [Details]
(2019)Ahmed Timol: the quest for justice for people murdered in apartheid’s jails.
Kylie Thomas (2019) Ahmed Timol: the quest for justice for people murdered in apartheid’s jails. Articles   [Details]
(2019)What the Timol Judgement means for Ending South Africa's Culture of Impunity.
Kylie Thomas; (2019) What the Timol Judgement means for Ending South Africa's Culture of Impunity. Articles [Details]
(2019)La justice sud-africaine rouvre les dossiers de l'apartheid.
Kylie Thomas; (2019) La justice sud-africaine rouvre les dossiers de l'apartheid. Articles   [Details]
(2015)Open Stellenbosch, apartheid, and ‘the third force’.
Kylie Thomas (2015) Open Stellenbosch, apartheid, and ‘the third force’. South Africa: Articles   [Details]
(2015)Open Stellenbosch aims to move its fight beyond campus boundaries.
Kylie Thomas (2015) Open Stellenbosch aims to move its fight beyond campus boundaries. US: Articles   [Details]

Encyclopedia Entries

 YearPublication
(2021)History of Photography in Apartheid South Africa.
Kylie Thomas (2021) History of Photography in Apartheid South Africa. New York:Oxford University Press. Encyclopedia Entries. [DOI] [Details]

Book Reviews

 YearPublication
(2016)Making a life with words.
Kylie Thomas; (2016) Making a life with words. Book Reviews [DOI] [Details]
(2011)A Life of Constant Reckoning.
Kylie Thomas (2011) A Life of Constant Reckoning. South Africa: Book Reviews   [Details]
(2011)Speaking our Silences.
Kylie Thomas (2011) Speaking our Silences. Book Reviews   [Details]

Podcast - Media

 YearPublication
(2023)“Visual Narratives of Catastrophe”: Thinking Photography and the Holocaust.
Kylie Thomas (2023) “Visual Narratives of Catastrophe”: Thinking Photography and the Holocaust. Amsterdam: Podcast - Media   [Details]
(2021)NIOD REWIND Episode 15: Forced Disappearances Under Apartheid South Africa.
Anne van Mourik;Thijs B. Bouwknegt;Kylie Thomas;Michael Schmidt; (2021) NIOD REWIND Episode 15: Forced Disappearances Under Apartheid South Africa. Amsterdam: Podcast - Media [Details]
(2020)Remembering South Africa's George Bizos.
Ozayr Patel and Kylie Thomas (2020) Remembering South Africa's George Bizos. UK: Podcast - Media   [Details]

Professional Activities

Professional Associations

 AssociationFunctionFrom / To
African Feminist Initiative Member01-SEP-21 /
Photography Network Member01-MAR-23 /
Memory Studies Association Member01-MAY-23 /
Feminist Autonomous Collective Member01-OCT-22 /

Journal Activities

 JournalRoleTo / From
Safundi Co-Editor01-JUL-23 -
Critical Arts Member of Editorial Board01-MAR-23 -
Social Dynamics Editor01-JAN-12 - 31-DEC-14
Feminist Africa Co-Editor01-JAN-12 - 31-DEC-14

Teaching Activities

Teaching Interests

Visual Activism 
Histories of Resistance 
History of Photography 
Feminist and LGBT studies 
African Studies 
Radical Humanities 
War and Violence 
Truth Commissions and Transitional Justice 

Courses in 2023-2024: 

Visualizing War

Feminist Visual Activism 

Contact details

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University College Cork

Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh

College Road, Cork T12 K8AF

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