Black and white photograph of men at an indoor market looking at rows of dried tobacco leaves in bundles

Untitled (44UN-58-068), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), 1958

Todd Webb

Gelatin silver print

Courtesy of the Todd Webb Archive L2020.85.16

Not on View

Tobacco was once Southern Rhodesia’s main export. Walking from bale to bale, inspecting the quality of the tobacco leaves, these men prepare for an auction. It is important to note that all of the men trading the product are white, while most of the workers on the tobacco farms were Black. De facto racial segregation created systemic inequities in Southern Rhodesia that lasted for decades of political transition and persist today.

Image: In Copyright. Courtesy of the Todd Webb Archive

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