Photography (Photography)

Since the global capital expansion, billboards have been the medium of communication between the rulers and the residents of townships. In South Africa, a billboard is a relic from the times when Africans were subjects of power and when townships were restricted areas, subject to laws, municipality by-laws and ordinances regulated the movement of persons and governed who may or may not enter the township. Mofokeng references this medium for control through tracing the history of townships in South Africa.

Photography (Photography)

Mofokeng’s experiences during the turbulent time of the 1980s in South Africa led to a turn in his practice, opting to turn to the crowd, focusing on individual faces and bodies within the masses to tell a story of the collective resistance that is present in the daily life and surroundings of South African townships. “Miriam Maine’s funeral” urges the viewer to connect to the sadness that they are witnessing in the scene. Miriam Maine — the sister in law of Kas Maine a tenant farmer Mofokeng documented for historian Charles Van Onselen — was a respected member of the Bloemhof community.

Photography (Photography)

Santu Mofokeng is a South African photographer. Mofokeng was born in 1956 in Soweto. He began his career as a street photographer when he was still a teenager, then worked as an assistant in a darkroom and later became a news photographer, working on the Apartheid.

Photography (Photography)

Santu Mofokeng is a South African photographer. Mofokeng was born in 1956 in Soweto. He began his career as a street photographer when he was still a teenager, then worked as an assistant in a darkroom and later became a news photographer, working on the Apartheid.