Exploring Quietness on the Mines

David Goldblatt (1930-2018) photographed the people, landscapes and structures of South Africa for over seventy years. He exhibited widely throughout his career. In 1989, Goldblatt founded the Market Photography Workshop in Johannesburg. A year earlier, he was the first South African to be given a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 

In this body of work David Goldblatt  conceptually explores mining’s pivotal significance as the driver of the South African economy in the 1960s and 1970s. As an astute and careful observer, both principled and compassionate, Goldblatt strove to capture life in and around the mines in sequences of shaft-sinking, stoping and other primary activities that took place underground, as well as the particularities of those individuals at the rockface.

This lone chair speaks to the theme of quiet observation and shows the eeriness of the mines of South Africa, that are filled with layers of sedimented trauma and violence.

Goldblatt moves outside, using gentle contrast to emphasize form and composition. His distinctive approach allows the viewer to focus on the shapes and arrangements within the South African landscape.

Goldblatt masterfully uses movement and perspective in his photography. Through careful composition, he invites the viewer to observe and interpret the stories embedded within each image.

Having grown up near mining sites, many of Goldblatt's landscapes are dotted with cranes and equipment. They rise up as stern, stark figures that take up lots of space in the images.

Contrasting the large mounds created by the mine dumping is a small building declaring an advert for Joko tea - a staple of many local households. Here, interaction with South African history can unfold, through the subtle commentary and context offered in Goldblatt's framing.