Santu Mofokeng (October 19, 1956 – January 26, 2020) was a South African news and documentary photographer who worked under the alias ''Mofokengâ''. Mofokeng was a member of the Afrapix collective and won a Prince Claus Award.Prince Claus Fund (2009
biography
/ref>

Early life

Mofokeng was born on October 19, 1956, in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa.

Career

While still a teenager, he began his career as a street photographer, went on to work as an assistant in a

darkroom A darkroom is used to process photographic film, make Photographic printing, prints and carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light-sensitive photographic materials, including ...

, and then worked as a news photographer. Subsequently, he joined the collective Afrapix, working under the alias ''Mofokengâ''. Initially he mainly documented the struggle against

apartheid in South Africa Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

. In 1988 he started working with the African Studies Institute at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

(Wits), where he worked alongside Revisionist Charles Van Onselen. Mofokeng's writing improved significantly during his time at the University. He spent much of the next 10 years collecting photographs of South Africa's middle class. While at Wits, Mofokeng realized the importance of answering even the simplest of questions in photography, questions like “What are you doing?” and “Is this what you mean?”. This process helped Mofokeng transform the way he looked at photography and find the true meaning of each photo he took. Mofokeng emphasized the spiritual dimension of his work, as in the series ''Chasing Shadows'' from 1997. After starting off with street and news photography, he specialized in landscapes. Later projects show his deep concern for the condition of the (biophysical) environment at the beginning of the 21st century.Cargo Collective
biography
/ref> At his exhibition ''Let's Talk'' in 2010, he explained that the essence is not what you see in these photographs, but what you don't see (but feel). On January 26, 2020, Mofokeng died of

progressive supranuclear palsy Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a late-onset neurodegenerative disease involving the gradual deterioration and death of specific volumes of the brain, linked to 4-repeat tau pathology. The condition leads to symptoms including Balance di ...

, a degenerative brain disease, in Johannesburg.

Solo exhibitions

*1990: ''Like Shifting Sand'', Market Galleries,

*1994: ''Rumours / The Bloemhof Portfolio'', Market Galleries, Johannesburg *1995: ''Distorting Mirror/Townships Imagined'', Worker's Library, Johannesburg *1997: ''Chasing Shadows – Gertrude Posel Gallery'',

, Johannesburg *1998: ''Black Photo Album/Look at Me'', Netherlands Photo Institute,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

*1998: ''Chasing Shadows'', Netherlands Photo Institute, Rotterdam *1998: ''Lunarscapes'', Netherlands Photo Institute, Rotterdam *1999: ''Black Photo Album/Look at Me'', FNAC

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...

*2000: ''Chasing Shadows'', Transparencies International,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

*2000: ''Sad Landscapes'', Camouflage Gallery, Johannesburg *2003: ''Chasing Shadows'', Memling Museum,

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

*2004: ''Rethinking Landscape'', Centre photographique d'Ile-de-France (CPIF), Pontault-Combault *2004: ''Santu Mofokeng'', David Krut Projects, New York City *2006: ''Invoice Iziko'', South African National Art Museum,

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

*2007: ''Invoice'', Standard Bank Art Museum, Johannesburg *2008: ''Homeland Security'', Johannesburg Art Museum *2008: ''Santu Mofokeng's Landscape'', Warren Siebrits, Johannesburg *2009: ''Mofokeng survey exhibition'', Autograph ABP, London *2010: ''Chasing Shadows'', Anne Arbor Institute of Humanities,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

*2010: ''Let's Talk'', Arts on Main, Johannesburg *2010: ''Remaining Past'', Minshar Art Institute,

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

*2011–12: ''Chasing Shadows'', Paris,

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, Antwerp

Awards

* 1991: Ernest Cole Scholarship, for study at the

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

, in New York City * 1992: 1st Mother Jones Award for Africa * 1998: Künstlerhaus Worpswede Fellowship, Germany * 1999: Contre Jour Residency,

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

* 1999: DAAD Fellowship,

Worpswede Worpswede (Northern Low Saxon: ''Worpsweed'') is a municipality in the Osterholz-Scharmbeck, district of Osterholz, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Teufelsmoor, northeast of Bremen (city), Bremen. The small town itself is located n ...

, Germany * 2001: DAAD Fellowship, Worpswede, Germany *2007: Ruth First Fellowship *2009: Prince Claus Award,

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

*2016: International Photography Prize, Fondazione Fotografia Modena – Sky Arte, Italy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mofokeng, Santu 1956 births 2020 deaths 20th-century South African male artists 20th-century South African photographers 21st-century South African male artists 21st-century South African photographers Deaths from progressive supranuclear palsy Documentary photographers Landscape photographers Neurological disease deaths in South Africa People associated with the University of the Witwatersrand People from Soweto South African photojournalists Street photographers