David Goldblatt
author · photographer
David Goldblatt (1930–2018) was a prominent South African documentary photographer known for his profound and nuanced portrayal of the country's social and political landscape during the apartheid era. Born in Randfontein to Jewish refugees from Lithuania, Goldblatt developed a distinct approach to documentary photography that avoided overt activism or easy judgments, focusing instead on the structural conditions and everyday realities of life under oppression. His work often explored themes of architecture, labor, and the enduring consequences of segregation. After the end of apartheid, his focus shifted toward South African landscapes and culture. He was a recipient of numerous prestigious honors, including the Hasselblad Award in 2006 and the Henri Cartier-Bresson Award in 2009. Goldblatt also contributed significantly to aesthetics and architectural theory through various publications.[1,2,3]
- Apartheid
- South African landscape
- Architecture
- Social criticism
Books
Works by David Goldblatt
- 1973 On the Mines
- 1975 Some Afrikaners Photographed
- 1981 Cape Dutch Homesteads
- 1982 In Boksburg
- 1986 Lifetimes: Under Apartheid
- 1989 The Transported of KwaNdebele: A South African Odyssey
- 1998 South Africa: The Structure of Things Then
- 2001 David Goldblatt
- 2006 David Goldblatt – Photographs
- 2007 David Goldblatt: Photographs: Hasselblad Award 2006
- 2018 Structures of Dominion and Democracy
Exhibitions
- 1974 David Goldblatt
- 1975 David Goldblatt
- 1998 Photographs from South Africa
- 2007 Hasselblad Award Winner 2006
- 2018 David Goldblatt
Awards
- 2006 Hasselblad Award
- 2009 Henri Cartier-Bresson Award
- 2010 Lucie Award (Lifetime Achievement)