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David Goldblatt

For the British writer and broadcaster, see David Goldblatt (writer).

David Goldblatt
Born (1930-11-29)29 November 1930
Randfontein, South Africa
Died 25 June 2018(2018-06-25) (aged 87)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Nationality South African
Occupation Photographer
Years active 1948–2018
Notable work On the Mines (1973), Some Afrikaners Photographed, (1975) The Structure of Things Then (1998)

David Goldblatt (29 November 1930 – 25 June 2018) was a South African photographer noted for his portrayal of South Africa during the period of apartheid[1] and more recently that country's landscapes. He described himself as a “self-appointed observer and critic of the society into which I was born.”[2] He had numerous publications to his name. He lived in Johannesburg.

Early life[]

Goldblatt was born in Randfontein, Gauteng Province,[1] and was the youngest of the three sons of Eli and Olga Goldblatt. His grandparents arrived in South Africa from Lithuania around 1893, having fled the persecution of Jews there.[3]

Goldblatt worked in his father's men's outfitters, attended Krugersdorp High School, and graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a degree in commerce.[4][5]

Monochrome photography[]

Goldblatt began photographing in 1948 and documented developments in South Africa through the period of apartheid up until his death in 2018. In Goldblatt's view, "During those years color seemed too sweet a medium to express the anger, disgust and fear that apartheid inspired".[2]

During Apartheid, Goldblatt in his work The Transported of KwaNdebele documented the excruciatingly long and uncomfortable twice-daily bus journeys of black workers who lived in the segregated "homelands" northeast of Pretoria. The conditions have not changed that much for workers since, he explains [in 2007]. "The bulk of people who live there still have to travel to Pretoria by road. It's still a very long commute for them every day – two to eight hours,” he says. "It will take generations to undo the consequences of Apartheid."[6]

After apartheid, Goldblatt continued to photographs of the area including the landscape.[6]

Colour photography[]

Until the end of the 1990s Goldblatt – in what he called his personal work – rarely photographed in colour.[7] It was only after working on a project involving blue asbestos in north-western Australia, and "the resulting disease and death", that he "got hooked on doing work in color [because] You can’t make it blue in black and white."[6]

This was coupled with new developments in the field of digital scanning and printing. Only when Goldblatt was able to achieve the same "depth" in his colour work that he had previously achieved in his black and white photography, did he choose to explore this field extensively.[citation needed]

Collections and publications[]

Goldblatt's work is held in major museum collections worldwide. A solo exhibition of his work was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1998.

Interest in Goldblatt’s work increased significantly after a travelling exhibition of 51 years of his work (Barcelona, 2001), and the eleventh Documenta (Kassel, 2002). The former, which opened in the AXA Gallery in New York in 2001, offered an overview of Goldblatt’s photographic oeuvre from 1948 to 1999. At Documenta, two projects were shown: black-and-white work depicting life in the middle-class white community of Boksburg in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as examples of later colour work from the series Johannesburg Intersections.

Goldblatt's book South Africa: The Structure of Things Then, published in 1998, offers an in-depth visual analysis of the relationship between South Africa's structures and the forces that shaped them, from the country's early colonial beginnings up until 1990.

Influences[]

Goldblatt cited writers, rather than visual artists, as his major influences. Among these writers were Jillian Becker, Herman Charles Bosman, Nadine Gordimer, Njabulo Ndebele, Ivan Vladislavic and playwright Barney Simon.

Death[]

Goldblatt died on 25 June 2018 in Johannesburg from cancer.[1][8][9]

Publications[]

Exhibitions[]

Solo exhibitions[]

Group exhibitions[]

Awards[]

Collections[]

Goldblatt's work is held in the following permanent public collections:

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Jonze, Tim (25 June 2018). "Photographer David Goldblatt, South Africa's visual conscience, dies aged 87". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-06-25. 
  2. ^ a b Ritchin, Fred (26 August 2009). "The Camera Is Not a Machine Gun". The Design Observer Group. Retrieved 27 July 2016. 
  3. ^ Okwui Enwezor. "Matter and consciousness: An insistent gaze from a not disinterested photographer", Fifty-One Years: David Goldblatt (Barcelona: Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, 2001), 13–43.
  4. ^ a b c "Honorary degree citation: David Goldblatt Archived 19 July 2012 at Archive.is", University of the Witwatersrand. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  5. ^ "David Goldblatt". SA History. Retrieved 13 April 2016. 
  6. ^ a b c Eva-Lotta Jansson (11 June 2007). "David Goldblatt: The Colors of South Africa". Blouin Art Info. Retrieved 29 June 2018. 
  7. ^ Bajorek, Jennifer (2015). "On Colour Photography in an Extra Moral Sense". Third Text. 29 (3): 221–225. doi:10.1080/09528822.2015.1106136. 
  8. ^ a b "The photographer who chronicled life under apartheid". BBC News. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 2018-06-25 – via www.bbc.co.uk. 
  9. ^ David Goldblatt, Acclaimed South African Photographer, Dies at 87
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  11. ^ List of exhibitions, 1977–1999, Amber/Side. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  12. ^ "David Goldblatt: Photographs from South Africa", MoMA. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  13. ^ Kathryn Smith, "David Goldblatt's 'Structures' at the JAG", in November 1999 reviews archive, Artthrob. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
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  15. ^ Fifty-One Years: David Goldblatt (Barcelona: Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, 2001), 456.
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  26. ^ a b Sean O'Toole, "Looking at the land with David Goldblatt", Artthrob, December 2003. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  27. ^ David Goldblatt, Intersections Archived 14 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine., Michael Stevenson Gallery. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  28. ^ a b "David Goldblatt. Intersections Archived 29 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine.", press release (DOC file). Museum kunst palast. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
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  42. ^ Exhibition notice Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine., Fotomuseum Winterthur. (in German) Retrieved 17 February 2011.
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  44. ^ Exhibition notice, actuphoto.com. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  45. ^ Exhibition notice for "Photographs of the last decade", University of Cape Town. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  46. ^ Exhibition page, Galerie Paul Andriesse. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
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  49. ^ Exhibition notice for "Intersections Intersected" Archived 29 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine., Michael Stevenson Gallery. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  50. ^ Exhibition notice for "Intersections Intersected", ArtRabbit. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
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  52. ^ Malmö Konsthall: David Goldblatt, Intersections Intersected; Sune Jonsson, And Time Becomes a Wondrous Thing Archived 10 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine., E-flux, 5 February 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
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  54. ^ Exhibition notice, Goodman Gallery. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  55. ^ Press release for "In the time of AIDS", undo.net, 1 April 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  56. ^ Exhibition notice for "In Boksburg", University of Cape Town. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  57. ^ Review, DLK Collection, 2 June 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
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  59. ^ Claire Guillot, "David Goldblatt, TJ, 1948–2010 – review". The Guardian Weekly, 25 January 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  60. ^ Exhibition notice Archived 13 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine., Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson. (in French) Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  61. ^ Exhibition notice, Marian Goodman Gallery. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
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  63. ^ Press release for "Prize", undo.net, 29 January 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  64. ^ Press release for "Photography from South Africa", undo.net, 25 May 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  65. ^ Alex Dodd, "A Chronology", in David Goldblatt: Photographs (Venice: Contrasto, 2006), pp. 230–249.
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  67. ^ a b "Faces in the Crowd", Kunstaspekte.de. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
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  83. ^ 2006 award, Hasselblad Foundation. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  84. ^ "Honorary Fellowships (HonFRPS)". Royal Photographic Society. Retrieved 8 March 2017. 
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  87. ^ The citation is "For his excellent contribution in the portrayal of South African life through the medium of photography and for leaving an indelible mark in our country’s inclusive literary culture." "Media Statement by the Chancellor of the National Orders, Director-General in The Presidency, Dr Cassius Lubisi Archived 2 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine.", 21 April 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
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  90. ^ "2013 Infinity Award: Cornell Capa Lifetime Achievement". International Center of Photography. 23 February 2016. Retrieved 2018-07-05. 
  91. ^ Description Archived 10 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine. (with text by Goldblatt) of photographs related to asbestos and asbestos poisoning, 1999–2007. University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Health Sciences. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
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External links[]