David Goldblatt
South African photographer David Goldblatt passed away in his home earlier this week in Johannesburg.
Known for his documentation of life in South Africa and later of the country’s landscapes in color, Goldblatt is considered one of the great post-war photographers of his generation.
His own heritage of his grand-parents fleeing Lithuania from religious persecution remains a moral strain throughout his life as he described himself as a self-appointed observer and critic of the society into which he was born.
His works, from his early documentation of the coal miners through South Africa’s apartheid-era, and later in his coverage of ex-prisoners and crime scenes of violence, are often reminiscent of Walker Evan’s treatment of the American South.
Today’s feature surveys some of his work and celebrates his artistic vision, his always critical eye, and his equally compassionate gaze.
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt was born in 1930 in Randfontein, South Africa. He has photographed the structures, people and landscapes of his country since 1948. In 1989, Goldblatt founded the Market Photography Workshop in Johannesburg. In 1998 he was the first South African to be given a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 2001, a retrospective of his work, David Goldblatt Fifty-One Years began a tour of galleries and museums. He was one of the few South African artists to exhibit at Documenta (2002 and 2007) in Kassel, Germany. He has held solo exhibitions at the Jewish Museum and the New Museum, both in New York. His work was included in the exhibition ILLUMInations at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011, and has featured on shows at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Barbican Centre in London and in 2018, a major retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Goldblatt is the recipient of the 2006 Hasselblad award, the 2009 Henri Cartier-Bresson Award, the 2013 ICP Infinity Award and in 2016, he was awarded the Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres by the Ministry of Culture of France. [via Goodman Gallery]
David Goldblatt died on June 25, 2018 in his home in Johannesburg.
[Images David Goldblatt / Goodman Gallery]
David Goldblatt / In Memoriam
(November 29, 1930 – June 25, 2018)
