South African Photographers at Victoria & Albert, London

I was in London at the end of June last year – actually on a sabbatical after 11 years of running Africa Media Online! I got to look after our children as Rosanne went off to CEPIC congress in Istanbul. The three children and I had a ball visiting all those lovely museums and parks. We even got to see the “Lion King” – the highlight of the children’s first visit to London and made me proud to be a South African.
One thing I did get to was an exhibition of 18 South African photographers at the Victoria & Albert Museum called Figures & Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography. The V&A has recently taken on a permanent curator of photography and it was wonderful to see the work displayed so prominently in what is arguably the greatest museum of art and design in the world. The exhibition was sponsored by Standard Bank and ran from April 12 to July 17, 2011 and featured work from Jodi Bieber, Kudzanai Chiurai (born Zimbabwe), Husain and Hasan Essop, David Goldblatt, Pieter Hugo, Terry Kurgan, Sabelo Mlangeni, Zanele Muholi, Santu Mofokeng, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Guy Tillim, Berni Searle, Mikhael Subotzky, Jo Ractliffe, Roelof Petrus Van Wyk, Nonsikelelo Veleko, and Graeme Williams.
Read about participating photographers

Above: Entrance to Figures & Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography at the V&A Museum in London. PHOTO: David A. Larsen
Above: Graeme William’s group of images as part of Figures & Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography at the V&A Museum in London. PHOTO: David A. Larsen