Godfried Donkor // Jurgen Schadeberg

Godfried Donkor Quelques oeuvres de Godfried Donkor ont été montrées dans l’exposition “TRANSFERTS” organisée par Africalia2003 au Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles , au Centre “Camouflages” qui fut l’organisateur de “Next Flag” au Casino Du Luxembourg , une série d’expositions programmées autour d’artistes africains contemporains comme William Kentridge ,Olu Oguibe, Ingrid MWANGI, et Donkor. C’est la première fois en Belgique qu’une exposition personnelle lui est consacrée.

Jurgen Schadeberg Jurgen Schadeberg wrenches moments and people right out of time, place and mood, so that we can engage with them here and now, as we are, at the instant of looking. We gasp and feel a frsson of delight at each picture. Was it really like that ? Look at the faces as they were then, the hairstyles, the clothes people wore, the way they looked at each other. What is still the same, what has changed ?

There is the honesty of values, the dignified and respectful treatment of the subject matter and especially the people who might be involved. In this respect Jurgen’s photographs are extraordinarily sensitive. He arrived in South Africa during a difficult period of our history when the laws and the practices of the state denied humanity to the majority of the population and encouraged the minority to deny its own humanity. Yet these are photographs of annunciation, not of denunciation. They capture the joy and vitality of people from the oppressed community who had confidence that a new and more beautiful world would emerge one day. By showing them affirming their humanity and vitality, he did more to denounce oppression than if he had simply depicted them as victims of injustice. And the withes, trapped in their restricted colonial styles, are also treated with quiet respect, anticipating the day when they would irreversibly, even if reluctantly, accept that they were no longer destined to rule over others. Jurgen had a great advantage over South African photographers -he was not part of the scene he was recording. He came with a clear perspective. He emerged from the ruined city of Berlin with a sense of innovation and joy at being alive and creative. He did not manipulate the people he photographes to prove a point, but rather, he allowed them to affirm themselves in moments of intense expressivity. Just as he showed respect for the subjects then, so does he manifest respect for the viewers today. He is not seeking to pass off to us concocted or manufactured images to correspond to and confirm stereotypes. On the contrary, he allows authentic moments of human activity and expression to speak to us in a direct and relatively unmediated way. Jurgen clearly loves and respects the craft of taking and reproducing images. In fact, his stories are not about technique ; technique is subordinated to and immersed in the stories. He relies not on the artificial hightlights and shadows of studio portraits, but on the soft and ambiguous light of the ephemeral world around us, or the hard-edged glitter of the dance floor. He does not use stratagems to get the stories to say more than they comfortably say themselves. The result is images that are the more compelling because of their ease, their lack of strain. The person, the photographer, the people, the images, the book, there is a spontaneous and loving relationship between all of them.

Justice Albies Sachs September 2001 (Pressetext)

Chronologie :

1931. Naissance de Jurgen Schadeberg le 18 mars à Berlin. 1946. Apprenti chez un photographe professionnel et Ètudiant à la l’Ècole d’optique et de photographie de Berlin. 1947. Photographe bénévole à l’agence de presse allemande, Hambourg. 1950. Départ pour l’Afrique du Sud. Photographe indépendant, il devient le directeur artistique de la revue Drum à Jonhanesburg et travaille Ègalement pour Time life, Black star and le journal Stern. 1956-1960. Travaille pour le Sunday Times.S’installe à Londre où il travaille pour le Weekend Telegraph, l’Observer et le Sunday time. 1964-1966. Il dirige et édite la revue Camera Owner qui deviendra ensuite Creative camera. 1968. Départ pour l’Espagne où il travaille en qualité de photographe indÈpendant entre autre pour Lookout magazine. Il Ètudie la peinture. 1969. Retour à Londre. Il enseigne la photographie et la réalisation l’école centrale des arts et du design. Il produit des documentaires. 1973. Il traverse l’Afrique en auto-stop. 1974.Il est commissaire d’expositions photographiques à la Withechapel art gallery. 1979. Enseigne à la New School, New-York 1980. Enseigne à la Hochkunst Schule à Hambourg 1980-1984. Travaille comme photographe indépendant en Allemagne et en Angleterre pour Die Zeit, New Society, The Sunday Times et The Observer. 1984-1985. Vit en travaille dans le sud de la France. 1985 . Retour en Afrique du Sud afin de dirigé la production et la réalisation de documentaires et de fictions sur la vie politique, sociale et culturelle de la communauté noire. 1986. Travaille et édite un ouvrage sur les archives du magazine Drum 1987-2004. Expose en Afrique du Sud, Angleterre, Allemagne, France et Etats-Unis.

Godfried Donkor (Ghana)
” Financial times”
From 13 NOVEMBER TO 31 DECEMBER 2004

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Jurgen Schadeberg
PHOTOGRAPHIER L’AFRIQUE DU SUD (1950 - 2003)
THE TRUE EYE