Shooting Resistance | Works

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All images are printed with archival inks on archival Lyson Standard Fine Art 310 gsm paper, edition of 10, unless otherwise noted. (In addition, chemical prints of some images can be ordered—please inquire about this option.

The following books are also available for purchase:

Peter Magubane, June 16, 1976, limited millenium edition,signed copies =
Alf Kumalo. Itala Vivan (ed.), 1998
Beyond the Barricades: Popular Resistance in South Africa, 1989 
South Africa: The Cordoned Heart, Omar Badsha (ed.), 1986 
Santu Mofokeng
The Bang Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War, Marinovich & Silva, 2000
The Short Century, Okwui Enwezor (ed.)
Democracy’s Image: Photography and Visual Art after Apartheid, 1998

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The following images pay tribute to a few of the many photographers of the events of 1976-1994. They took great risks and suffered injury, harassment, arrest, and psychological trauma to capture what the state so desperately wanted to hide. They not only documented history, they created compelling images despite shooting under fire.

In the 1991-1994 period, photographers Ken Oosterbroek, Greg Marinovich,Joao Silva, and Kevin Carter, were dubbed The Bang Bang Club by South African media. In a book by the same name, Marinovich and Silva reflect on their work, their triumphs (two Pulitzers), and tragedies (Ken Oosterbroek’s death and Kevin Carter’s suicide shortly after he received the New York Times’s first Pulitzer for photography).

Ken Oosterbroek was killed on April 17, 1994, while covering a firefight between Inkatha supporters and members of the National Peacekeeping Force (NPKF), a transitional security force composed largely of rightwing SA police, SA and “homeland”soldiers, and guerillas from the former liberation armies.Greg Marinovich was shot three times in the same incident. Prompt action by colleagues, including James Nachtwey, gothim to hospital in time, where he underwent 5 emergency operations in 5 days, then two more. Later, he wrote about his experience, “I felt strangely relieved that I had finally been shot. I had always experienced guilt about being a passing voyeur during other people’s moments of tragedy. A strong sense of peace came over me, a feeling that I had now paid my dues.”

Though Oosterbroek’s inquest found nobody to blame, a NPKF member later told Marinovich and Joao Silva that the NPKF had been responsible.

As this exhibition shows, the Bang Bang Club weren’t the only photographers covering the pre-election violence. TJ Lemon remarks, “Realistically it was like a pool of guys. I think Greg and Joao saw themselves as very committed but they weren’t the only shooters, and the so-called Bang Bang Club wasn’t a joined-at-the-hip clique.Ken and Kevin, Joao and Greg—to different extents andat different times were friends with, and rode with, other guys. We freelancers tried to ride with guys who had company cars. Ken and Joao had the use of The Star’s vehicle, in which they “cruised” the townships on “dawn patrols”. I sometimes went along, but the car was full most days. I think this was one of the clues to the Bang Bang Club … The Star car” (Lemon, Jan. 2002).

 

To see more works and enquire about prices, contact Axis Gallery.