David Goldblatt

David Goldblatt was well known for his photography, which explored both public and private life in South Africa. His powerful images depicted life during the time of Apartheid, offering a profound insight into the era's societal conditions. Goldblatt also extensively photographed colonial-era monuments and buildings, believing that architecture reveals something about the people who built them. 

Biography of David Goldblatt

David Goldblatt was born in 1930 in Randfontein, South Africa. He studied at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, receiving a Degree in Commerce.

Throughout his lifetime, Goldblatt chronicled the structures, people, and landscapes of South Africa from 1948 until his death in June 2018.

In 1989, he founded the Market Photography Workshop in Johannesburg to provide further education in visual literacy to disadvantaged students during the apartheid regime.

Notably, in 1998, Goldblatt became the first South African to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 2001, he became an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at the University of Cape Town.

In 2016, the Ministry of Culture of France awarded him the Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres.

Solo exhibitions of David Goldblatt's works have been held at various prestigious galleries and museums worldwide, including Art Institute Chicago, Yale University Art Gallery, Pace Gallery, The Pursuit of Values Standard Bank Gallery, Galerie Marian Goodman, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Amherst Art Museum, South Africa Jewish Museum, and many more.