Featuring some of the most iconic images of our time, this unique combination of photojournalism and commentary offers a probing and comprehensive exploration of the birth, evolution, and demise of apartheid in South Africa. Photographers played an important role in the documentation of apartheid as they stepped in to capture how the system penetrated even the most mundane aspects of life in South Africa, from housing, public amenities, and transportation to education, tourism, religion, and businesses. Included in this vivid and compelling volume are works by such photographers as Eli Weinberg, Alf Khumalo, David Goldblatt, Peter Magubane, Ian Berry, and many others.
Organised chronologically, it interweaves images and thoughtful essays to explore vital issues, including the institutionalisation of apartheid through the country’s legal apparatus; the growing resistance in the 1950s; and the radicalisation of the anti-apartheid movement within South Africa and, later, throughout the world.
Finally, the book investigates the fall of apartheid, including Mandela’s return from exile. Far-reaching and exhaustively researched, this important book features more than 60 years of powerful photographic material that forms part of the historical record of South Africa. AUTHOR: Okwui Enwesor is Director of Haus der Kunst, Munich. He was previously Adjunct Curator at the International Center of Photography in New York City. He has curated numerous exhibitions throughout the world and is the founder and editor of the journal NKA: Journal for Contemporary African Art. Rory Bester is an art historian, critic, curator, and documentary filmmaker, and a lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. ILLUSTRATIONS: 450 colour