David Goldblatt: Yassah Reed

David Goldblatt is a famous photographer in the South Africa and around the world. He is famous for taking photos of natives in everyday life. Goldblatt takes photos that tell a story of the natives' lives. He would catch everyday moments, but they were extraordinary in other ways. A picture is worth a thousand words and his photographs would tell more. Instead on simply hearing or reading about Apartheid, you could see it. The tense faces of the natives and affrikaners, their body language, and the intensity of the photo helps you to understand what is happening in that moment and what life is like for them every moment of everyday. Goldblatt has photographed through most of Apartheid starting relatively young; he did not know the he would be the narrator of a story yet to unravel and struggles yet to be realized.
" All photographers are witness... I was trying to find ways of understanding, of what you like, of who we are. Apartheid was apart of that." David Goldblatt
His portrayal of images such as the style in which he took them along with the way he developed them were all purposefully done to convey a message. He did not what the photos to be appealing, in the sense of bright color the evoke happier, lighter emotions of delight, he wanted the observers to feel what was felt when the picture was taken. The contrast of black and white was symbolic of the darkness of South Africa, the photos were never meant to be looked over superficially but they were made to make people think. Goldblatt wanted to make the pictures come alive so that the emotions felt were genuine and corresponded with the serious natural of his photos.
David Goldblatt allowed people to see Apartheid in a whole mother perspective. He showed people the life of a native to try to make them understand the consequences of the system of Apartheid.  I feel like a large factor the contributed to Apartheid becoming as oppressive as it was, was the ignorance of people. People don't pay attention to  the world around them and they didn't care. Goldblatt forced people of not only South Africa but everywhere to see it as it was. It is easy to turn a blind eye when the issue isn't shoved in you face. David put it is South Africa's view so that it could no longer be ignored. He put an emphasis on what had been played down for so long.
The reality of each ohoto plays a part in their significance in Aparthied. Some photographers try to find the beauty in the world but Goldblatt focuses on all of the pain. He has captured the pain of 100s of people through their lives and the repressive system of Aparthied that engulfed their entire civilization, so much so it was recognized as normal or even acceptable. He has captured what Aparthied  really is a cruel system of discrimination that suppressed million(and still plagues the society today) by the implementation of various racist and unfair laws. When words can't put life in perspective, the photos do.

I reccomment everyone look up his photos they are inspiring and show more that what mets the eye. I feel as if all South African photography would be an exceptional thing to look up if one would like to learn more about Aparthied because this is history behind pictures and that is what Goldblatt's photographs continue to display. 

By Yassah Reed :)

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/08/world/africa/david-goldblatt-photographer-apartheid/