Mikhael Subotzky (born

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa, 1981) is a South African artist based in Johannesburg. His installation, film, video and photographic work have been exhibited widely in museums and galleries, and received awards including the KLM Paul Huf Award, W. Eugene Smith Grant, Oskar Barnack Award and the Discovery Award at

Rencontres d'Arles The Rencontres d’Arles (formerly called ''Rencontres internationales de la photographie d’Arles'') is an annual summer photography festival founded in 1970 by the Arles photographer Lucien Clergue, the writer Michel Tournier and the historia ...

. He has published the books ''Beaufort West'' (2008), ''Retinal Shift'' (2012) and, with Patrick Waterhouse, ''Ponte City'' (2014). Subotzky is a member of

Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in New York City, Paris, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David Seymour (photographer), Davi ...

Life and work

Subotzky graduated from the

Michaelis School of Fine Art The Michaelis School of Fine Art was founded in 1925, and is the Fine Arts department of the University of Cape Town. The school's current director is Associate Professor Kurt Campbell. There are three research institutions associated with the sch ...

at the University of Cape Town in 2004. For his book ''Beaufort West'', Subotzky photographed in and around a prison built within a traffic circle in the town of

Beaufort West Beaufort West (Afrikaans: ''Beaufort-Wes''; Xhosa: ''eBhofolo'') is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and is known as the "Capital of the Karoo". It forms part of the Beauf ...

. For six years he and Patrick Waterhouse collaborated in photographing in Ponte City, a 54-storey cylindrical building in Johannesburg – the tallest residential tower block in Africa – resulting in their book and exhibition ''Ponte City''. They photographed the residents, interiors and exteriors of the building, and produced a series of giant tableaux, made up of hundreds of contact sheets, presented in towering light boxes. Their book ''Ponte City'' won the

Deutsche Börse Photography Prize Deutsch or Deutsche may refer to: *''Deutsch'' or ''(das) Deutsche'': the German language, in Germany and other places *''Deutsche'': Germans, as a weak masculine, feminine or plural demonym *Deutsch (word), originally referring to the Germanic ve ...

2015. Subotzky became a

nominee in 2007 and a full member in 2011.

Publications

*''Beaufort West.'' With an essay by

Jonny Steinberg Jonny Steinberg (born 22 March 1970) is a South African writer and scholar. He is the author of several books about everyday life in the wake of South Africa's transition to democracy. Two of them, ''Midlands'' (2002), about the murder of a white ...

. **London:

Chris Boot Chris Boot (born 27 May 1960) is a British photography curator, book publisher, and has worked in a variety of other roles related to photography. He was director of London’s Photo Co-op, director of the London and New York offices of Magnum Pho ...

, 2008. . **London: Chris Boot, 2014. . Special edition. *''Retinal Shift.'' Göttingen:

Steidl Steidl is a German-language publisher, an international publisher of photobooks, and a printing company, based in Göttingen, Germany. It was started in 1968 by Gerhard Steidl and is still run by him. Overview The company was started by Gerha ...

, 2012. . Edited by Ivan Vladislavic, texts by Anthea Buys and Sean O'Toole. Catalogue for his Standard Bank Young Artist Exhibition. *''Mikhael Subotzky: photographe = photographer.'' Montreuil: l'Oeil, 2007. . Text in English and French.

Publications with others

* ''Ponte City.'' Göttingen: Steidl, 2014. . With Patrick Waterhouse, edited by Ivan Vladislavic. Catalog of an exhibition held at Le Bal, Paris and

Fotomuseum Antwerp Fotomuseum Antwerp, also known as FOMU, is a museum of photography in Antwerp, Belgium. History and programme The museum opened in 1986. The Fotomuseum in Antwerp has a historical and contemporary collection of photography that is given a new p ...

, Belgium in 2014. *''Vos Reves Nous Derangent.'' Paris: Actes Sud, 2013. . Photographs by Subotzky,

Dulce Pinzon Dulce Pinzón (born 1974 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican artist currently living in Brooklyn, New York, Mexico City, Mexico, and Montreal, Montreal, Canada. In 2015 she was named by Forbes Magazine as "One of the 50 most creative Mexicans i ...

and Achinto Bhadra, texts by Mathieu Potte-Bonneville and Bertrand Ogilvie; includes text in English by Fred Ritchin translated into French by Sally Laruelle.

Exhibitions

*2005: ''Die Vier Hoeke'' = ''The Four Corners'',

Pollsmoor Prison Pollsmoor Prison, officially known as Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison, is located in the Cape Town suburb of Tokai in South Africa. Pollsmoor is a maximum security penal facility that continues to hold some of South Africa's most dangerous c ...

, Cape Town, South Africa. *2008: ''New Photography: Josephine Meckseper and Mikhael Subotzky,''

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, New York. With

Josephine Meckseper Josephine Meckseper (born 1964) is a German artist, active mainly in New York City. Her large-scale installations and films have been exhibited in various international biennials and museum shows worldwide. Life and education Meckseper studied ...

. *2009: ''Still Revolution: Suspended in Time,''

Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA), formerly known as the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), is a museum and art gallery in Toronto, Ontario. It is an independent, registered charitable organization. ...

, Toronto, May–June 2009. Group exhibition with Subotzky,

Barbara Astman Barbara Astman RCA is a Canadian artist who specializes in a hybrid of photography and new media, often using her own body as object and subject, merging art and technology. Early life Astman was born in Rochester, New York, the second of three ...

Walead Beshty Walead Beshty (born London, UK, 1976) is a Los Angeles-based artist and writer. Beshty was an associate professor in the Graduate Art Department at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, and has taught at numerous schools including University of ...

Mat Collishaw Matthew "Mat" Collishaw Hon. FRPS (born 6 January 1966) is an English artist based in London. Collishaw's work uses photography and video. His best known work is ''Bullet Hole'' (1988), which is a closeup photo of what appears to be a bull ...

, Stan Douglas,

Idris Khan Idris Khan OBE (born 1978) is a British artist based in London.Biography
Victoria Miro Gallery Khan's ...

Trevor Paglen Trevor Paglen (born 1974) is an American artist, geographer, and author whose work tackles mass surveillance and data collection. In 2016, Paglen won the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize and he has also won The Cultural Award from the ...

, and

Martha Rosler Martha Rosler (born 1943) is an American artist. She is a conceptual artist who works in photography and photo text, video, installation, sculpture, and performance, as well as writing about art and culture. Rosler's work is centered on everyday ...

. *2011: ''Figures & Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography,''

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, London. Group exhibition. *2012: ''Retinal Shift,'' Standard Bank Young Artist 2012,

Iziko South African Museum The Iziko South African Museum is a South African national museum located in Cape Town. The museum was founded in 1825, the first in the country. It has been on its present site in the Company's Garden since 1897. The museum houses important A ...

. *2014: ''Ponte City,'' Le Bal, Paris, January–April 2014. With Patrick Waterhouse.

Awards

* * *2007: Young Photographer category, Ville de Perpignan Rémi Ochlik award, Visa pour l'image, Perpignan. *2007: KLM Paul Huf Award,

Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam Foam or Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam is a photography museum located at the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The museum has four different exhibitions at any given time in which different photographic genres are shown, such as documen ...

, Amsterdam. *2008: W. Eugene Smith Grant from the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund. *2009: Oskar Barnack Award for ''Beaufort West''.Winner 2009
leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.Leica announces the winner of the Oskar Barnack Award 2009
, Photography Monthly, 10 July 2009. Accessed 17 May 2014. *2011: Discovery Award,

, with Patrick Waterhouse, for ''Ponte City''. *2015:

2015, with Patrick Waterhouse, for ''Ponte City''.

References

External links

*
Subotzky's profile at Goodman GallerySubotzky's profile at Magnum PhotosSubotzky & Waterhouse on Ponte City
(3 min video)
21 Icons - Subotzky - Short Film
(3 min video)
Subotzky: Standard Bank Young Artist Award 2012
(4 min video)
Subotzky: To see as a photographer sees
(14 min video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Subotzky, Mikhael 1981 births Living people Magnum photographers South African photographers