The Market Photo Workshop is a school of

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

, a gallery, and a project space in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

, South Africa, founded in 1989 by

David Goldblatt David Goldblatt HonFRPS (29 November 1930 – 25 June 2018) was a South African photographer noted for his portrayal of South Africa during the period of apartheid.Weinberg, Paul.David Goldblatt: Photographer Who Found the Human in an Inhuman ...

. It offers training in visual literacy for neglected and marginalized parts of South African society. Its courses are short foundation and intermediate, as well as longer advanced, and in photojournalism and documentary. The Market Photo Workshop is a division of the Market Theatre Foundation.

Remit

The Market Photo Workshop offers training in visual literacy for neglected and marginalized parts of South African society. Early on, its visual output focused on

social documentary photography Social documentary photography or concerned photography is the recording of what the world looks like, with a social and/or environmental focus. It is a form of documentary photography, with the aim to draw the public's attention to ongoing social ...

, but has now expanded to include "more expressive, conceptual, and self oriented or community-focused work". "At its core,

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

sought to create a black underclass denied of any imaginative agency. Imagination, therefore, is necessarily subversive. To focus only on technique, without cultivating a critical vocabulary of image-making, would have reinforced the logic of apartheid, which accommodated for low-level black artisans."

Courses

*Foundation Course in Photography – 3 months, full-time *Intermediate Course in Photography – 3 months, full-time *Advanced Programme in Photography – 20 weeks, full-time * Photojournalism and

Documentary Photography Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life. It is typically undertaken as professional pho ...

Programme – 1 year, full-time

History

The Market Photo Workshop has its origins in

curating a photography exhibition in the Market Theatre for its opening in 1976, continuing to host exhibitions there in the 1970s and 1980s, and eventually setting up a small gallery there. In order to set up Market Photo Workshop, Jeremy Ractliffe, father of photographer Jo Ractliffe, secured funding from the DG Murray Trust. The Market Photo Workshop opened in what had been the Newtown post office in Bree Street. It has since moved twice within Newtown, most recently to Lilian Ngoyi Street. A public gallery space was launched in 2005 called The Photo Workshop Gallery. Since moving to Lilian Ngoyi Street, an additional gallery has been added, Gallery 1989. It shows the work of both local and international photographers. John Fleetwood ran the school from 2002 to 2015. Lekgetho James Makola is its current director. Since 2005, the Market Theatre Foundation has been administered by the national government's Department of Arts and Culture.

Alumni

* Jodi Bieber * John Fleetwood * Lebohang Kganye * Phumzile Khanyile *

Sabelo Mlangeni Sabelo Mlangeni (born 22 February 1980) is a South African photographer living and working in Johannesburg, South Africa. His work is held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Walth ...

* Mimi Cherono Ng'ok * Thabiso Sekgala *

Lindokuhle Sobekwa Lindokuhle Sobekwa (born 1995) is a South African documentary photographer. He is a Nominee member of Magnum Photos and based in Johannesburg. Life and work Sobekwa was born in Katlehong, a township, 35 km from Johannesburg, South Africa. ...

Zanele Muholi Zanele Muholi (born 19 July 1972) is a South African artist and visual activist working in photography, video, and installation. Muholi's work focuses on race, gender and sexuality with a body of work that dates back to the early 2000's, documen ...

* Nontsikelelo Veleko

References

External links

* {{Official website, marketphotoworkshop.co.za Arts organisations based in South Africa 1989 establishments in South Africa Art galleries established in 2005 Photography museums and galleries in South Africa Book publishing companies of South Africa Visual arts publishing companies