Jürgen Schadeberg

Jürgen Schadeberg (born 1931) is a South African photographer and artist.

Overview

Jürgen Schadeberg was born in Berlin in 1931. In 1950, he moved to South Africa to rejoin his family and joined Drum magazine as official photographer and layout artist.

Schadeberg became a teacher and mentor to some of the most creative South African photographers of his time, like Bob Gosani, Ernest Cole and later Peter Magubane.[1] As one of the few white photographers who photographed daily life among the black community, he became knowledgeable about black life and culture. As a result, he captured on film the beginnings of the freedom movement, the effects of apartheid and the vibrancy of township life.

Schadeberg photographed many historic and pivotal events in the 1950s among them the Defiance Campaign of 1952, the 1956 Treason Trial, the Sophiatown removals of 1955, the Sophiatown jazz and social scene, the Sharpeville funeral of 1960 and pictures of Robben Island inmates. Some of the famous people he photographed include Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Trevor Huddleston and Govan Mbeki. He also documented the Fifties jazz legends such as Dolly Rathebe, Kippie Moeketsi, Thandi Klaasen and Miriam Makeba.

Drum wanted the singer Dolly Rathebe to be the cover girl for one of their issues. Schadeberg took her to a Johannesburg mine dump and photographed her in a bikini. The two were arrested for contravening the Immorality Act which forbade interracial relationships.[2]

In 1959, Schadeberg left Drum to become a freelancer. He was part of an expedition led by Professor Phillip V. Tobias from the University of the Witwatersrand to study the San (Bushmen). These images were published in The Kalahari Bushmen Dance in 1982.[3]

He was forced to leave South Africa in 1964 and went to London. Here he taught and curated photographic exhibitions, notably for the Whitechapel Art Gallery.[1]

He then moved to Spain where he concentrated on a career as an artist. In 1972, he returned to Africa where he accepted a position as photographer for Christian Aid in Botswana and Tanzania. In 1973 he travelled from Senegal and Mali to Kenya and Zaire to take photographs.[3]

In 1984, Schadeberg returned to South Africa. He continues to work as a photo-journalist as well as making documentaries about the black community.

Books

Film and video

Solo exhibitions

[5]

Photography

Painting

Selected group exhibitions

[5]

External links

References

  1. 1 2 "Jürgen Schadeberg". Link Portfolio. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  2. "Dolly Rathebe". S A History. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
  3. 1 2 "Jürgen Schadeberg". SA History. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
  4. Sof'town is an abbreviation for Sophiatown
  5. 1 2 Schadeberg, Jürgen. "CV". Retrieved 16 April 2007.
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