David Goldblatt

The Randfontein-born artist, who began photographing in 1948, was one of South Africa's leading documentarians of the apartheid era, capturing in stark detail life on both sides of the racial divide. 'During those early years my prime concern was with values, what did we value in South Africa, how did we get to those values and how did we express those values,' said Goldblatt. One of the major figures of contemporary photography, he epitomized the ethical and moral conscience of the role of the artist in society today, legend, teacher, a national icon, and a man of absolute integrity. Goldblatt took up photography at the age of 18, the year apartheid was enforced, choosing to work almost entirely in black and white. Over the decades he developed a style that captured quiet, almost tranquil moments, which nevertheless spoke deeply of the trauma caused by his country's imposed racial divide.