The title of this exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago (until 25 March 2024) is taken from language used by David Goldblatt in a newspaper advert, seeking subjects for his photographs. It‘s a neat encapsulation of the objectivity and transparency Goldblatt strove for in his photographs recording Johannesburg during and after apartheid, which continue to be celebrated as among the most limpid and intimate representations of life in a society riven by racial division. Spanning the six decades of his career, the show progresses from Goldblatt’s black-and-white documentary works of the 1950s–90s to later colour works, and shows how he increasingly came to examine his own relatively privileged role as the son of Lithuanian Jewish emigrants, with the ability to move freely within South African society and among his diverse subjects. The exhibition also examines his mentorship of younger artists and continuing influence at home and abroad, with a display of works by international contemporaries such as Josef Koudelka and South African photographers including Santu Mofoken and Zanele Muholi. Find out more from the Art Institute of Chicago’s website.
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Swerwers, nomadic sheep shearers and farmworkers descended from the San hunter- gatherers and Khoi pastoralists. Without work for four months they lived in the ITALIC gang, the corridor between farms, fences and roads, hunting, fishing when they could and eating roadkill, near Nuwe Rooiberg, Northern Cape, 18 September 2002 (2002; printed later), David Goldblatt. Art Institute of Chicago, promised gift of Cecily Cameron and Derek Schrier. © The David Goldblatt Legacy Trust
Sylvia Gibbert in her apartment, Melrose, Johannesburg (1974), David Goldblatt. Art Institute of Chicago, promised gift of Cecily Cameron and Derek Schrier. © The David Goldblatt Legacy Trust
In the office of the funeral parlour, Orlando West, Soweto (1972), David Goldblatt. Art Institute of Chicago, promised gift of Cecily Cameron and Derek Schrier. © The David Goldblatt Legacy Trust
Sunday morning: A not-white family living illegally in the “White” group area of Hillbrow, Johannesburg (1978; printed later), David Goldblatt. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven. © The David Goldblatt Legacy Trust
Miriam Diale, 5357 Orlando East, Soweto, 18 October 1972 (1972; printed later), David Goldblatt. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven. © The David Goldblatt Legacy Trust