Every day, at least 20 invitations to exhibition openings from here and from around the world arrive on the screen of my laptop, most of which I glance at and delete, noting one or two I would like to know more about, or visit.
Today there is one from the Goodman Gallery Cape announcing a new show of work by David Goldblatt. The invitation images shows a large group of people formally grouped for an official photograph in front of the Houses of Parliament.
The caption reads: Members of the Constitutional Assembly on the steps of the Senate House in the parliamentary precinct, shortly after they had unanimously adopted the Constitution of South Africa, Cape Town, 11 October 1996.
As a photographer who had unrelentingly recorded the harsh effects of apartheid through the years, from the demolitions to the grim faced Nationalist ministers in all their high handed arrogance, this photograph must have marked a significant career moment for Goldblatt, the recording of the people who had signed the country’s pledge to transform itself.
The mark of a great artist is one who works continuously for years, pushing through periods of self doubt in the attempt to share a personal vision with the world and thus building a sustained and authentic practice. Of no one is this truer than David Goldblatt. How much poorer would this country be without his photographs.
