David Goldblatt

David Goldblatt HonFRPS (29 November 1930 – 25 June 2018) was a South African documentary photographer noted for his dedicated portrayal of the South African peoples within the political landscape of the apartheid era. After apartheid's end, he concentrated more on the country's landscapes. Goldblatt's body of work was distinct from that of other anti-apartheid artists in that he photographed issues that went beyond the violent events of apartheid and reflected the conditions that led up to them. Goldblatt also wrote journal articles and books on aesthetics, architecture, and structural analysis.

Early life

Goldblatt was born in Randfontein, Gauteng Province,

Goldblatt's father ran a clothing store, where his mother worked as a typist for a clothing company, which Goldblatt speculated may have been how they met. Goldblatt attended Krugersdorp High School, and graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a degree in commerce.

Photography

Goldblatt began photographing as a teenager. He received his first camera from his father, who had bought it from his other son, who had brought home the damaged German Contax on his return from serving in World War II. Goldblatt enlisted help from a wedding photographer: "He would drape several cameras around my neck so that I looked very professional, and my job was to ensure that no guest with a good camera got a good picture . . . I would have to bump or walk in front of them at the critical moment so that my boss was the only person who ended up with good photographs." He made a life of photographing the issues that went beyond the events of apartheid and documented the conditions that led to them. He in turn was looked down upon and disrespected for not involving himself in activism, on which he commented: "I wasn't prepared to compromise what I regarded as my particular needs."

Depictions of the everyday are frequent in Goldblatt's work. Instead of photographing the explicit violence of Apartheid South Africa, he preferred to document the violence of this era which exhibited itself in ordinary life: "I shun violence. And I wouldn't know how to handle it if I was a photographer in a violent scene."

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 had not changed that much for workers by 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. . . . It will take generations to undo the consequences of Apartheid."

In the 1970s, Goldblatt documented one of the many injustices of the Apartheid South African government in a series of photographs of houses, shops and other types of architecture in the Johannesburg suburb, Pageview. The Group Areas Act of 1950 displaced much of the local population in favor of white South Africans. Goldblatt observed that: "the use of colour during apartheid would have been inappropriate. It would have enhanced the beautiful and the personal, whereas black and white photographs to more effectively documented the external dramatic contradictions that defined this earlier period."

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.

Goldblatt has written extensively on architecture and the deeper meaning contained within the buildings we occupy.

Influences

Goldblatt was inspired by photography in magazines such as Life, Look and Picture Post, which helped him with things such as captioning his photographs. Together they helped reinvent documentary and conceptual modes of photography, which led them to prominence and influence within documentary photography. Goldblatt turned no photographer, struggling or famous, away from his door. He was always accessible to everyone no matter what, even in his later life. He had created photographs up until his death. He was survived by his wife, Lily Goldblatt, children Steven, Brenda, and Ronnie, and two grandchildren.

David Goldblatt. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1975.
David Goldblatt. Photographers' Gallery, London, 1986.
David Goldblatt. Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam, 1998.
In Boksburg. Krings-Ernst Galerie, Cologne, October 2001 – January 2002.
Fifty-One Years, Axa Gallery, New York, 2001; Centro Cultural de Belém, Belém, Lisbon, 2002–2003; MACBA, Barcelona (organiser), February–May 2002; Witte de With, Rotterdam, 2002; Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, February–March 2003; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, April–June 2003; Lenbachhaus, Munich, July–November 2003; Bensusan Museum and Library of Photography, Johannesburg, July–November 2004.
Krings-Ernst Galerie, Cologne, 2002.
Mostly unseen. Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, 2002.
Intersections. Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, October 2003; Michael Stevenson Gallery, Johannesburg, 2005. museum kunst palast, Düsseldorf, June–August 2005; Camera Austria, Graz, November 2005 – February 2006. Huis Marseille, Amsterdam, March–May 2007; Berkeley Art Museum, July–August 2007.
Asbestos. Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, October 2003.
Particulars & Rural South Africa. Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, October–November 2003.
Galerie Marian Goodman, Paris, 2004.
David Goldblatt. Galerie des Franciscains, Le Grand Café, Centre d'art contemporain, Saint-Nazaire, November–December 2004.
David Goldblatt. Galería Elba Benítez, Madrid, May–July 2005.
David Goldblatt. Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, 2005.
Some Afrikaners Revisited. Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, October–November 2006.
Hasselblad Award Winner 2006. Hasselblad Center, Gothenburg, November 2006 – January 2007.
Hasselblad Award 2006. Fotografins Hus, Stockholm, February–March 2007.
Photographs. Forma, Centro Internazionale di Fotografia, Milan, June–August 2007.
Südafrikanische Fotografien 1952–2006. Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, March–May 2007.
Selected works. Marian Goodman Gallery, Paris, May–June 2007. Showing the series Particulars
Winner of Hasselblad Award 2006. Brandts Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, September–November 2007.
David Goldblatt – Photographs of the last decade. Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, 2008.
David Goldblatt. Galerie Paul Andriesse, Amsterdam, October–December 2008.
David Goldblatt. Museu de Arte Contemporânea (Serralves Foundation), Porto, 2008.
Joburg. Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, 2008.
David Goldblatt. Västeras Konstmuseum, Västerås, 2008.
Intersections Intersected. Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, 2008; Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, December 2008 – February 2009; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City, July–October 2009; Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, February–May 2009; University Museum of Contemporary Art, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2011.
Fietas. Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, 2009.
In the time of AIDS. Galería Elba Benítez, Madrid, 2009.
In Boksburg. Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, February–April 2009.
Some Afrikaners revisited. Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, 2009.
South African Photographs: David Goldblatt. Jewish Museum, New York, May–September 2010.
TJ', 1948–2010. Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, Paris, January–April 2011.
Selected works. Marian Goodman Gallery, Paris, January–February 2011.
On the Mines. Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, October–December 2012.
Structures of Dominion & Democracy. Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, November–December 2014.
New Pictures 10: David Goldblatt, Structures of Dominion and Democracy. Minneapolis Institute of Art, August 2014 – February 2015.
David Goldblatt. Centre Pompidou, Paris, February–May 2018.
David Goldblatt Photographs 1948 – 2018. Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, October 2018 – March 2019.
On The Mines.The Norval Foundation, Cape Town, February–August 2019.
David Goldblatt | Johannesburg 1948 – 2018. Goodman Gallery, London, June–August 2020.
David Goldblatt Strange Instrument. Pace Gallery, New York, February–March 2021.
David Goldblatt Markers of Presence.Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, June–July 2021.

Group exhibitions

South Africa: the Cordoned Heart, South Africa and the USA, 1986.
Johannesburg Biennial, Johannesburg, 1995.
Contemporary Art from South Africa, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, 1996.
In/Sight, African Photographers, 1940 to the Present. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1996.
Blank Architecture, Apartheid and After. Rotterdam and Berlin, 1998.
Home. Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 2000.
Rhizomes of Memory, Three South African Photographers. With George Hallett and Santu Mofokeng. Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Oslo, 2000.
Eye-Africa, Revue Noir. Cape Town, Europe and the USA, 2000.
The Short Century – Befreiungsbewegungen in Afrika. Villa Stuck, Munich, 2001.
Haus der Kulturen der Welt im Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin, 2001.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, 2001.
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, 2001.
Head North. Bildmuseet, Umeå, 2001.
documenta 11. Kassel, 2002.
Shock. Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 2002.
Strangers: The first ICP triennial of photography and video. International Center of Photography, New York, September–November 2003.
Citigroup Photography Prize 2004. Photographers' Gallery, London, January–March 2004. With Robert Adams, Peter Fraser and Joel Sternfeld.
Citigroup Photography Prize 2004. museum kunst palast, Düsseldorf, May–August 2004.
History, Memory, Society. With Henri Cartier-Bresson and Lee Friedlander. Tate Modern, London, 2004.
Eye Spy: Photography from the Permanent Collection. Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, USA, September 2004 – January 2005.
Faces in the Crowd – Picturing Modern Life from Manet to Today. Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 2004–2005.
Faces in the Crowd – Picturing Modern Life from Manet to Today. Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, 2005.
Afrika Remix. Zeitgenössische Kunst eines Kontinents. museum kunst palast, Düsseldorf, July–November 2004.
Africa Remix. Hayward Gallery, London, February–April 2005.
Africa Remix: l'Art contemporain d'un continent. Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, May–August 2005.
Africa Remix. Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, May–August 2006.
Africa Remix. Moderna Museet, Stockholm, October 2006 – January 2007
documenta 12. Kassel, June–September 2007.
South African Photography 1950–2010. Johannesburg Art Gallery, 2010.
29th São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo, September–December 2010. With Moshekwa Langa and Kendell Geers.
An exhibition of Goldblatt's photographs from the collection held by the Victoria and Albert Museum shown alongside group exhibition Figures & Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2011.
Appropriated Landscapes: Contemporary African Art from the Walther Collection, Neu-Ulm, Germany, 2011–2012.
Revolution vs Revolution, Beirut Art Center, 2012.
South Africa in Apartheid and After, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, with Ernest Cole, Billy Monk. December 2012 – March 2013.
Everything Was Moving: Photography from the 60s and 70s, Barbican Centre, London, September 2012 – January 2013.
C-16, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town. December–February 2014.
Other People's Memories, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg. January–February 2015.
New Revolutions: Goodman Gallery at 50, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg. June–July 2016.
the silences between, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town. August–September 2017.
Narrative Means, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg. June–July 2018.

Awards

1987: Hallmark Fellow at the International Design Conference in Aspen (IDCA), Aspen, Colorado
1992: Gahan Fellow in Photography at Harvard University
2001: Honorary Doctor in Fine Arts, University of Cape Town
2006: Hasselblad Award – Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography
2007: Honorary Doctor of Literature, University of the Witwatersrand
2007: Honorary Fellowship of The Royal Photographic Society
2009: , Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation
2010: Lucie Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, Lucie Foundation
2011: Order of Ikhamanga (Silver) (awarded, but declined by Goldblatt in protest over the Protection of State Information Bill)
2011: Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts San Francisco Art Institute
2013: Infinity Award: Cornell Capa Award for Lifetime Achievement, International Center of Photography, New York City

Collections

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

Durban Art Gallery
South African National Gallery, Cape Town
Constitutional Court, Braamfontein, Johannesburg
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
Fonds national d'art contemporain, Paris
Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona
Photographers' Gallery, London
National Museum of Photography, Copenhagen
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Museum of Modern Art, New York
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

References

External links

David Goldblatt's View On South Africa – slideshow & audio report by NPR