Jürgen Schadeberg was born in Berlin in 1931. In 1950, he
moved to South Africa to re-join his family and joined Drum magazine as
official photographer and layout artist.
Schadeberg became a teacher and mentor to some of the most
creative South African photographers of his time, like Bob Gosani, Ernest Cole
and later Peter Magubane. As one of the few white photographers who
photographed daily life among the black community, he became knowledgeable
about black life and culture. As a result, he captured on film the beginnings
of the freedom movement, the effects of apartheid and the vibrancy of township
life.
Schadeberg photographed many historic and pivotal events in
the 1950s among them the Defiance Campaign of 1952, the 1956 Treason Trial, the
Sophiatown removals of 1955, the Sophiatown jazz and social scene, the
Sharpeville funeral of 1960 and pictures of Robben Island inmates. Some of the
famous people he photographed include Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver
Tambo, Trevor Huddleston and Govan Mbeki. He also documented the Fifties jazz
legends such as Dolly Rathebe, Kippie Moeketsi, Thandi Klaasen and Miriam
Makeba.
He was forced to leave South Africa in 1964 and went to
London. Here he taught and curated photographic exhibitions, notably for the
Whitechapel Art Gallery.
He then moved to Spain where he concentrated on a career as
an artist. In 1972, he returned to Africa where he accepted a position as
photographer for Christian Aid in Botswana and Tanzania.
In 1984, Schadeberg returned to South Africa. He continues
to work as a photo-journalist as well as making documentaries about the black
community.
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