The magazine of the photo-essay
October 2019 back issue
“A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!”
Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film maker
“A self-appointed observer and critic of the society into which I was born”
David Goldblatt
South African photographer, David Goldblatt (born in 1930) came from a white Jewish family. He began taking
photographs in 1948. That year saw the start of apartheid in South Africa, a policy of racial discrimination and
segregation.
As a young photographer, Goldblatt set out to capture ‘the underbelly of the society that underlay South Africa’. He
explained: ‘to understand it visually, I also had to get a grasp on the history of the country. So I did a degree, which
included courses in English and economic history. This taught me how to think and understand what was
happening around me.’ His images reflect this desire to understand the full context behind what is depicted.
Goldblatt rarely photographed scenes of violent oppression or of protest against apartheid. Instead, he explored ‘the
values and conditions that gave rise to the events’. This display brings together three bodies of work that reflect this
approach: Structures, begun in 1961, Particulars, which he started in 1975 and The Transported of KwaNdebele
1983–4.
The free display will be on show until the 5th April 2020.
@ Tate Modern
5th August 2019 - 5th April 2020
David Goldblatt, Child Minder. Joubert Park, Johannesburg 1975, printed 2013
David Goldblatt, Couple on a Sunday Afternoon. Zoo Lake, Johannesburg 1975,
printed 2013
David Goldblatt, Dutch Reformed Church, inaugurated on 31 July 1966. Op-die-Berg, Koue Bokkeveld, Cape. 23 May 1987
David Goldblatt, Man Sleeping. Joubert Park, Johannesburg 1975, printed 2013
David Goldblatt, Woman on a Bench, Joubert Park, Johannesburg 1975 printed 2001
David Goldblatt, Woman Resting on her Way to Work. De Villiers Street Park,
Johannesburg 1975 printed 2013
