ORAL HISTORY ARCHIVE:
DAVID GOLDBLATT
Interviewed by Mark Durden
Location: Modern Art, Oxford
Date: January 2003
Portrait by Warren van Rensburg
Chapter 3:
(Chapter 3 of 6, Running Time: 00:09:16)
Chapter Index: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
4 p.m. at a traffic light in Pretoria (Tshwane), 1967.
Three-legged medley race in the seventh year of drought, near Nietverdiend, Marico Bushveld, Transvaal, North-West Province, 1965.
Chapter 3 Synopsis:
- Discovers kindred spirit in Walker Evans and James Agee's 'Let Us Now Praise Famous Men'.
- Excited by the work of Nadine Gordimer - writing about the experience of daily life in South Africa.
- 'On the Mines' and 'Afrikaners' poorly recieved in South Africa when first published.
- 'Afrikaners' viewed as too critical of Afrikaner culture - boycotted by bookshops and newspapers.
- Public still unsure what to make of photographic books at this time.
- Feels need to separate 'professional' client-driven work from more personal self-motivated work.
- Mid '70s - first exhibtion outside South Africa - Photographer's Gallery in London.
- Reception by English audience disappointing - work was misunderstood by critics.
- Growing realisation that only a South African audience would be equipped to understand the work.
4 p.m. at a traffic light in Pretoria (Tshwane), 1967.
Three-legged medley race in the seventh year of drought, near Nietverdiend, Marico Bushveld, Transvaal, North-West Province, 1965.
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