Ways of Seeing: South African and International Photography
Live Virtual Auction, 18 September 2024
Ways of Seeing: South African and International Photography
About the SessionWays of Seeing: South African and International Photography showcases a collection of works that take a critical approach to photography, layered with themes of personhood, subjectivity and community.
The sale features works from distinct collections by passionate collectors with a discerning eye and deep engagement with art – featuring The Gary Eisenberg Collection, part of the Linda Givon Collection, works from The Photographic Archival and Preservation Association as well as a group of contemporary African artists who have made a significant mark within the medium of photography including, Zanele Muholi, Mary Sibande, Kudzanai Chiurai, Pieter Hugo and Nandipha Mntambo, among others.
With a title that pays homage to a great thinker, John Berger, Ways of Seeing: South African and International Photography challenges traditional notions of the gaze, inviting us to engage the human experience through images of nude physical forms, intimate portraits, landscapes and depictions of the environment. The sale is a meditation on the ethics of seeing, often fraught with complexity and contestation.
It highlights the diversity within both local and global photographic traditions through an array of works, with significant contributions from African photographers alongside globally renowned artists such as Bill Brandt (British), Nan Goldin (American), Bettina Rheims (French), Sebastião Salgado (Brazilian), Viviane Sassen (Dutch), Wolfgang Tillmans (German), Joel-Peter Witkin (American), André Kertész (Hungarian), Roman Vishniac (Russian-American), and Youssef Nabil (Egyptian).
A significant portion of Ways of Seeing: South African and International Photography is drawn from The Gary Eisenberg Collection following the tragic and untimely passing of Gary earlier this year. This inclusion comes with immense gratitude from Gary’s wife, Dominique Eisenberg.
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About this Item
signed, numbered L.E. 17/20, inscribed with the title in ink and embossed with the artist's chopmark in the margin; signed, dated, inscribed with the title, the number and stamped with the artist's copyright on the reverse
Provenance
The Photographic Archival and Preservation Association.
Notes
Hand printed and selenium toned in 1995 by Jürgen Schadeberg.
'Jürgen Schadeberg, often considered the father of South African photography, took this photo of iconic singer Miriam Makeba while working for Drum Magazine, at the time the only publication for Black South Africans. It appeared on the cover of Drum. Schadeberg was born in Berlin and emigrated to South Africa as a teenager and went on to fame as a chronicler of South African life at a crucial time in the country's history -- the blossoming of Black South African culture at the same time that apartheid was imposed. UNESCO has said that Jurgen Schadeberg 'documented the evolution of South African jazz for almost sixty years.''1
1. Artsy (no date) Jürgen Schadeberg - Icon of South Africa Photography, online, https://www.artsy.net/artwork/jurgen-schadeberg-miriam-makeba-1955, accessed 27 August 2024.
Exhibited
Bonne Espérance Gallery, Paris, Jürgen Schadeberg - Icon of South African Photography, 25 July to 24 August 2024, another example from the edition exhibited.