David Goldblatt: Intersections

In this generously illustrated monograph the renowned South African photographer David Goldblatt explores the aftermath of Apartheid in and beyond Johannesburg. In the past decade David Goldblatt’s documentary photographs of his native country have gained worldwide recognition for their intimate, unflinching views of a culture ravaged by prejudice and injustice. Since 1999 Goldblatt has focused primarily on large-format color works: land- and cityscapes that capture not only the country’s fragile social structure but also its beautiful vistas and vibrant hues. Intersections is the first complete volume of Goldblatt’s color work to date. His urban images dwell on the ostentatious developments mushrooming in and around Johannesburg as well as scenes of the everyday life of people who make their living within the city. His rural images capture the seductive vastness of the landscape, the damage done to the land by the mining industry, and the dignity of the people living on the land. His photographs capture the contrasts that represent South Africa: white and black, rural and urban, desperate and hopeful. They mark the emergence of an important new phase in the work of a photographer who, living among his subjects, uses his art to make sense of these very contradictions.

For more than 50 years, Goldblatt's black-and-white photographs have captured South Africa with quiet intensity, including in Lifetimes: Under Apartheid (1986), with Nadine Gordimer. Here, for the first time, he works in color. But the 92 stunning images in this beautiful oversize volume are not lush picturesque views of Cape beaches and game parks. Nor are they front-page political news. The cover photo is a dynamic view of a crowded Johannesburg street, but Goldblatt's focus is on the solitude and silence of the huge, open dry veld and rocky mountain areas under the harsh light. For a moment, you think Ansel Adams, but, as art historian Christoph Danelzik-Bryuggemann points out in his introduction, there is nothing pristine in this wilderness, only the restrained sadness of displacement: a dust road, a fence, a farm gate, a group of migrant workers, an almost-hidden AIDS ribbon, the waste of an asbestos mine. The excellent back matter includes an interview, extensive captions, and discussion of Goldblatt's photographic technique and the meaning of landscape. Hazel Rochman
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