Jürgen Schadeberg (18 March 1931Jürgen Schadeberg
South African History Online29 August 2020Ted Botha
Famous Mandela Photographer at Drum Magazine Jürgen Schadeberg Dies
sapeople.com 30 August 2020) was a German-born South African photographer and artist. He photographed key moments in South African history, including iconic photographs such as

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

Robben Island Robben Island () is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch language, Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrika ...

prison. He also lived, worked and taught in London and Spain, and photographed in many African countries. His work is held in the collections of the UK

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

and the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in London.

Life

Jürgen Schadeberg was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany, in 1931 where he grew up during the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In the aftermath of the war, his mother began a relationship with a British officer in the army of occupation and emigrated with him to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 1947. Schadeberg learned to be a photographer at the Deutsche Presseagentur (German Press Agency). He moved to South Africa to rejoin his family in 1950 and, the following year, found employment on ''

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

'' magazine as official photographer and layout artist.Newbury, Darren. "Johannesburg Lunch-Hour 1951–1963: The emergence and development of the humanist photographic essay in Drum magazine." In ''Journalism Studies'' 8 April 2007, pp 584-594. Schadeberg became the senior figure of the group and a teacher and mentor to some of the most creative South African photographers of his time, including Bob Gosani, Ernest Cole, and later Peter Magubane. 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 Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

, and the vibrancy of

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

life. Schadeberg photographed many historic and pivotal events in the 1950s among them the

Defiance Campaign The Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws was presented by the African National Congress (ANC) at a conference held in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in December 1951 in South Africa, 1951. The Campaign had roots in events leading up the conferenc ...

of 1952, the 1956

Treason Trial The Treason Trial was a trial in Johannesburg in which 156 people, including Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason in South Africa in 1956. The main trial lasted until 1961, when all of the defendants were found not g ...

, the

Sophiatown Sophiatown , also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a poor multi-racial area and a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid. It produced some of South Africa's most famous writ ...

removals of 1955, the Sophiatown jazz and social scene, the

Sharpeville Sharpeville (also spelled Sharpville) is a township situated between two large industrial cities, Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging, in southern Gauteng, South Africa. Sharpeville is one of the oldest of six townships in the Vaal Triangle. It was ...

funeral of 1960, and pictures of

inmates. Some of the famous people he photographed include

Walter Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC ...

Oliver Tambo Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (27 October 191724 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician and activist who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991. Biography Childhood Oliver Tambo was ...

, Trevor Huddleston, and

Govan Mbeki Govan Archibald Mvunyelwa Mbeki (9 July 1910 – 30 August 2001) was a South African politician, military commander, Communist leader who served as the Secretary of Umkhonto we Sizwe, at its inception in 1961. He was also the younger son of Ch ...

. He also documented 1950s

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

legends such as Thandi Klaasen,

Hugh Masekela Hugh Ramapolo Masekela (4 April 1939 – 23 January 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer who was described as "the father of South African jazz". Masekela was known for his jazz compositions and f ...

Kippie Moeketsi Jeremiah "Kippie" Morolong Moeketsi (27 July 1925 – 27 April 1983) was a South African jazz musician, notable as an alto saxophonist. He is sometimes referred to as "the father of South African jazz" and as "South Africa's Charlie Parker".Jürg ...

and

Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba ( , ; 4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including African popular music, Afropop, ja ...

.Matthew Oxley
The Father of South African Photography - Jürgen Schadeberg
(interview) worldphoto.org 2017A Tribute to the Masters of Photography / Jürgen Schadeberg
leica-camera.com He made documentations of everyday life. When ''Drum'' wanted the singer Dolly Rathebe to be the cover girl for one of their issues, Schadeberg took her to a

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

mine dump and photographed her in a

bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features one piece on top that covers the breasts, and a second piece on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but usually exposing the navel, and the back generally covering ...

. The two were arrested for contravening the

Immorality Act Immorality Act was the title of two acts of the Parliament of South Africa which prohibited, amongst other things, sexual relations between white people and people of other races. The first Immorality Act, of 1927, prohibited sex outside of marri ...

which forbade interracial relationships. In 1959, Schadeberg left ''Drum'' to become a

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

. He was part of an expedition led by Professor Phillip V. Tobias from the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

to study the

Bushmen The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are the members of any of the indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures of southern Africa, and the Indigenous peoples of Africa, oldest surviving cultures of the region. They are thought to have diverged fro ...

, publishing images in ''The Kalahari Bushmen Dance'' in 1982. Schadeberg felt forced by increasing civil unrest to leave South Africa, and in 1964 went to London, where he was picture editor of '' Camera Owner'' magazine (forerunner of '' Creative Camera''), into which he incorporated a stronger sense of design and increased its pictorial content, and from April to July 1965 he was its editor. He also taught and curated photographic exhibitions in England, notably for the Whitechapel Art Gallery. He then moved to Spain where he focused on a career as an artist. In 1972, he returned to Africa where he accepted a position as photographer for

Christian Aid Christian Aid is a relief and development charity of 41 Christian (Protestant and Orthodox) churches in Great Britain and Ireland, and works to support sustainable development, eradicate poverty, support civil society and provide disaster rel ...

in Botswana and Tanzania. In 1973 he travelled in Senegal, Mali, Kenya and Zaire, taking photographs. In 1985, Schadeberg returned to South Africa, where he lived with his wife Claudia. He continued to work as a photojournalist, and also made documentaries about the black community until 2007, when he returned to Europe.

Death

Schadeberg died from a stroke at his home in ,

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, Spain, on 29 August 2020, aged 89.Celebrated photographer Jürgen Schadeberg dies, aged 89
''The Citizen'', 30 August 2020

Publications

* ''The Fifties People of South Africa : the lives of some ninety-five people who were influential in South Africa during the fifties, a period which saw the first stirrings of the coming revolution'' / with photos by Bob Gosani ... t al. Bailey's African Photo Archives, 1987, * ''The Finest photos from the old Drum'', Bailey's African Photo Archives, 1987; Penguin Books istributor * ''The Kalahari Bushmen Dance'', Jürgen Schadeberg, 1982, * ''Nelson Mandela and the Rise of the ANC'' / compiled and edited by Jürgen Schadeberg; photographs by Ian Berry ... t al. text by Benson Dyantyi ... t al. Jonathan Ball, 1990, * ''Sof'town Blues: images from the black '50s'', J. Schadeberg, 1994, * ''Voices from Robben Island'', Ravan Press, 1994, * ''The Black and White Fifties : Jürgen Schadeberg's South Africa'', Protea, 2001, * ''Soweto today'', Protea Book House, 2002, * ''Who Killed Mr. Drum?'' / Sylvester Stein / photography by Jürgen Schadeberg, Corvo Books, 2003, * ''The Book of Life'', UN Development Programme, 2004, * ''Witness: 52 Years of Pointing Lenses at Life'', Protea Book House, 2004, * ''Voices from the Land'', Protea Book House, 2005, * ''Tales from Jozi'', Protea Book House, 2007, * ''Jürgen Schadeberg'', Hatje Cantz Verlag, edited by Ralf-P. Seippel, 2008, German/English/French,

Film and video

* ''Ernest Cole'' — Video, 52 minutes. The life and work of a courageous and pioneering black photographer * ''Voices from Robben Island'' — 16 mm, 90 minutes. The history of the infamous island prison, a BBC co-production * '' Have You Seen Drum Recently?'' — 35 mm, 77 minutes. The vibrant and turbulent 1950s in South Africa, with original music and photographs from ''Drum'' magazine. * ''The seven ages of music'' — Video, 56 minutes. A musical trip through history, from San singing to

* ''Dolly & the Inkspots'' — Video, 26 minutes. The life and memories of this legendary jazz singing combination

Collections

Schadeberg's work is held in the following permanent collections: * Arts Council Collection, UK: 2 prints (as of September 2020) *

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

: 8 prints (as of September 2020) *

, London: 3 prints (as of September 2020) *

, London: 2 prints (as of September 2020)

Notes

References

External links

* *
Jürgen Schadeberg
artnet.de
Jürgen Schadeberg's gallery
gallery-seippel.com * Karin Andreasson
Jürgen Schadeberg's best shot: Hans Prignitz's handstand over Hamburg
(interview) ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' 8 May 2014 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schadeberg, Jurgen 1931 births 2020 deaths Photography curators South African photographers German emigrants to South Africa White South African people 20th-century German photographers Photographers from Berlin South African emigrants to Spain Anti-apartheid activists South African exiles