The International Center of Photography wasn’t the first place we experienced the Apartheid, which is a time of inequality, cruelty, and violence in South Africa. Photographers who were around at the time, such as Peter Magubane, Leon Levson, Kevin Carter, and Ken Oosterbroek put themselves at risk and in the end, their work, including videos, photos, and audios, all filled the space in the exhibit. Both floors of the museum showed the transition from the early 20th century to modern day culture and politics in South Africa.

After the ticket check, the first thing I noticed was the small entrance and the way the hallway led into another. I was told that the museum was laid out in a particular way to lead the audience in a specific path that would show them the beginning of Apartheid and have them follow the events of the tragedy right up to the end. I thought that this was a great technique to keep the viewers understand exactly what was happening, as opposed to having displays and photos in different or random places, which could be confusing. Instead, having the layout of a timeline really helps tell the story of Apartheid and can even put the audience right back into that specific period and give them the perspective of what it was like back then.

Moving past the two videos, there is a countless number of pictures, all arranged in chronological order and themes. One of the themes that caught my attention was the time of new culture and prosperity. Jazz is one of the new cultures that were displayed; there were videos and photos of people dancing and singing to the music. The victims of the Apartheid used this as a way to still have hope for better times to come.

Of course, the Apartheid was not all happy times. There was a section of the exhibit showing the violence during that period such as dead bodies and protests. Protesters were often violently taken care of, including being beaten and attacked, simply for voicing their opinions. These were shown through videos, which made the situation very surreal and gave me a better understanding of what kind of violence existed and the pains that the victims were going through during that time.

The media that were displayed did a good job at portraying exactly what it was like during the Apartheid. However, the little captions that went along with these pictures or videos were hard to understand because they weren’t directly linked to each other. It takes some careful evaluation to be able to see which description goes with what. Otherwise, if they were placed in a way that would be more clear to the audience, it would have been even better.

The exhibit as a whole was very captivating and gave the audience a clear vision of what the Apartheid was like. The use of not only photographs but also videos and clips puts them in the shoes of the victims. As the audience follows the exhibit in the chronological pathway, it can be said that they are reliving in the experiences of the victims of Apartheid.

The carefully selected and curated photographs in the exhibit of Rise and Fall of Apartheid: Photography and the Bureaucracy of Everyday Life at the International Center of Photography (ICP) show the remnants and everlasting struggles of apartheid, the segregation in South Africa more than sixty years ago. Curated by Okwui Enwezor and Rory Bester, the exhibition proposes the power of the photography and journalism, and honors the exceptional achievement of South African journalists and photographers.

The exhibition examines the apartheid system and how it affected every aspect of South Africa. Through photographs, films, books, magazines, and newspapers, the exhibit showed how apartheid interfered with all of social aspects, ranging from housing, public amenities, and transportation to education, social events, tourism, religion and businesses. A big part of South African history is documented and on display right here in the center of the Big Apple at ICP.

There were photographs of people living behind gates and barbed wires. It shows how much resemblance there is between that and a prison. Alcan aluminum window frames were also on display in the lower level of the museum to represent the business aspect in South Africa. There plentiful portraits of important figures, such as Nelson Mandela. One particularly famous one is the one with Nelson Mandela dressed in traditional beads and a bed spread, as he was hiding out from the police during his period as the “black pimpernel” in 1961. There were also numerous accounts of protests – crowds of people with the same idea holding up posters and signs expressing their powerful thoughts of justice.

Out of the hundreds of media presented at the museum, two really stood out to me. I apologize ahead of time for the lack of the photographs I am about to describe, because the museum did not allow photos to be taken of the exhibit.

One was a photograph of a police interference with innocent villagers even after such incident. The photograph’s caption was: “After a funeral of a three-year old child shot in the head by a policeman’s rubber bullet, angry mourners clash with police near the family’s home.” It’s troubling to hear about such misery apartheid could bring to an innocent family, and many other families across South Africa as well.

My second photograph was a picture capturing African Americans in a fashion show and having a party. This picture, I thought, not only shows happiness, but strength in the people of South Africa. The strength they held within them throughout the period of apartheid. Without that strength, they would not been able to endure the hardships and put an end to apartheid.

A picture is worth a thousand words.
Imagine 500 pictures. How powerful is that?

A profound and explicit exhibition at the International Center of Photography, Rise and Fall of Apartheid holds a magnifying glass up to the Apartheid, offering a multi-faceted view of South Africa in a span of 60+ years.Not only does it present the confrontational horrors of racial segregation and its tangible effects, but the collection of magazines, books, documentary clips, uncensored video, commercials and many other mediums present the every day life that adds up to form a culture. The photos and media are strung together to form a powerful narrative, classified into segments of a common theme. Two themes, the political and emotional response, and blacks in the media offered a bi-lateral perspective into Apartheid.

One talented photojournalist, Peter Magubane, set the scene for the political and emotional responses to segregation in South Africa, especially in the Soweto Uprising. The uprising was sparked by black students in 1976 in attempt to change the unjust, highly segregated school system.  Magubane’s photographs blur the line between aesthetic and documentary, while effectively conjuring feelings of pathos from viewers. He especially captures the chilling aftermath of the uprising with an image of a black person’s corpse covered by newspapers, with a desolate open palm in the foreground. The newspaper ironically reads “This, I believe, as a South African.” According to the description beside the photograph, dead bodies covered with newspaper filled the streets during the Soweto Riots in 1976. Another image by the same artist, depicting the funeral of Hector Pieterson, who was the first young victim of the Soweto Uprising, poignantly captures this family’s struggle by highlighting body language. Four individuals, side by sidestand behind the casket with raised right fists and bowed heads.

The Treason Trial, beginning in 1956 until 1961 was yet another tumultuous event of Apartheid; 156 people, including Nelson Mandela were arrested in a raid and accused of Treason. Photographs taken by Eli Weinberg and an unidentified photographer lay out a narrative that demonstrates the sociology of power, the strength of the force that results when the people band together to ignite change. Weinberg’s Crowd Near the Drill Hall on the opening day of the Treason Trial illustrates a historic moment by documenting the facial expressions of the subjects, the unity of the signs they are holding up, and how the entire frame is occupied by the crowd. Another powerful Weinberg photograph is featured in the exhibit, which shows a young Nelson Mandela in 1961 clad in traditional beads and a bedspread, hiding from the police. The subject’s expression is one of sincere dedication and nobility; the photographer captures his presence as a leader. Surrounding photographs are arranged chronologically, with a heavy emphasison crowds for this particular event. A photograph by an unnamed photographer shows an anxious, somber crowd behind a foreground of three white policemen. The crowd, which is mostly black with some whites, seem to be staring in unison in the same direction, at a distant spot behind the camera.

A German-born South African, Jurgen Schadeberg, takes a particular interest in the Black Sash, an anti-apartheid women’s group. In contrast to images of fiery crowds of the Soweto Uprising and the Treason Trial, adjacent images of the Black Sash appear to be funeral-like. Schadeberg captures grave faces, bowed heads and women holding a candle to their chests. This juxtaposition of images shows the stark differences of how certain crowds conduct protests. The women in his images wear black sashes and stand still in the frame like mannequins, frozen in time, as they passively hold up signs. The photographer makes a point in his photographs that this was a global cause, contributing to the exhibit’s theme of the sociological influence. An interesting choice that was made in curating the exhibit was to showcase the group rather than the individual. A crowd of women of the 29 ANC Women’s League are shown being arrested for breaking a law that prohibited them from entering township.

The exhibit cleverly weaves in an environment of the culture and everyday life that took place, despite the horror of the Apartheid. A long panoply of Drum Magazine covers lie in a glass showcase, a contrasting sight against the chilling images on the opposite end of the room. Drum Magazine is targeted to mainly black readers and contains market news, entertainment, and feature articles. Peter Magubane, who worked for the magazine, says, “Drum was a different home; it did not have apartheid. There was no discrimination in the offices of Drum magazine. It was only when you left Drum and entered the world outside of the main door that you knew you were in apartheid land. But while you were inside Drum magazine, everyone there was a family.” The brightly-colored covers featuring smiling black women seemed to belong to a different place and time period. In the next room, photographs of rebellious women in South Africa’s “jazz age” hung on the walls. The unnamed photographers captured photos of women with bare breasts, surrounded by men. This time period during the Apartheid showed women establishing a presence on the stage: some sang, others danced, and a few engaged in promiscuous acts. While Schadeberg’s images displayed a culture of reserved, noble women, this section of the exhibit portrayed women as objects of pleasure, entertainers.

Newspaper articles, drawings, journal pages, picture books, and other primary sources are on display in the exhibit, giving a 360 degree view of Apartheid. Posters, advertisements and guerilla marketing also make a presence, highlighting the business trends of the time. The International Center of Photography designed a show that exceeds photojournalism; it creates a highly realistic atmosphere that has the ability to bring viewers back to this historical time.

Rise and Fall of Apartheid at the International Center of Photography will be open for viewing until January 6, 2013.

Apartheid was a era of racial segregation that existed in South Africa. With the power of photography, this harsh system came to an end in 1990s.

Walking into the International Center of Photography (ICP), I witnessed for the first time the consequences of Apartheid. Walking down the row of photos was like travelling back and forward through time. In the timeline of photographs, earlier photographers captured the most brutal part of the segregation, whereas newer photographers captured the changing culture that was a result of Apartheid. From public protests to speeches, South Africans openly protested against the cruel laws that the government imposed. This exhibition thoroughly portrays the progress of the movement with a variety of photographs from different owners. Through this variety, ICP offered a wide range of perspectives of the same movement.

One photo that stood out to me was Nanny and Child taken by Peter Magubane in 1950s. What stood out to me the most were words on the chair: Europeans Only. These simple, yet powerful, words on the chair are able to keep one race away from another. In this photo, the African nanny is looking over the white little girl. Automatically placed in a lower social class because of her race, the African nanny is forced to sit on the other side of the bench. The little girl on her face also has a confused expression on her face. This photo portrays how children were trained at a young age to understand the laws of Apartheid. Even though she seems confused, she knows to sit on her designated side. This photo revealed how Apartheid segregated the two races, no matter their age.

However, in another photo, a photographer offered a different perspective. In the photo The Black Sash, an anti-apartheid women’s group, also taken in the 1950s, is a portrayal of unison within segregation. Jurgen Schadeberg’s photo reveals how women from various races assembled to fight this movement. In this image, a large group of both colored and white women stood together in front of the Parliament and government offices holding a burning candle and wearing a black sash. This was a symbol of unity between races—one that the government had fought hard to separate.

By placing Schadeberg’s photo across from Magubane’s, ICP has effectively separated the two impacts that Apartheid had on society during the time. Although both photos were taken around the same time, these photographers offered contrasting views of how Apartheid impacted people. On one level, white children learned about these segregation laws at a young age. On another level, women from different races were able to unite and fight these brutal laws together. The structure of ICP exhibit played a role in separating the two ideas and organizing the photos in a way that revealed this important theme.

Images are powerful.

Do you think Apartheid had ended? Well, after this exhibit, you are definitely going to say no. The Rise and Fall of Apartheid exhibit in the International Center of Photography has nearly 500 photographs, documenting the rapid changes within a 60-year period in the country of South Africa. There were many “rises” for sure, but were there any “falls”? I’m not so sure about that.

For my first impression, I have to disagree with most of my classmates. It does not feel like a museum. In my head, a typical museum would have a lot of people, running around trying to figure out which way to go because there are so many paths crossing one another. In ICP, there was only one path. The photos are aligned in chronological order, with several short videos displayed here and there. All you have to do is walk and see. Down the wooden way, the pictures are hanged on a plain yellow wall. It is very simple, which becomes such a contrast compare to the impact on me after looking at the images.

These are not artistic photos. They are real. There are many images about segregation. Well, of course. They must be images of segregation. There are a number of them titled “Bus for non-Europeans only” or “European-only dry cleaner” or have a similar title. The photographers did not try to create a certain technical effect on their works. They are plain, but documentary and memorable. I know this probably sound old to many people, but every time I look at a photo showing the distinctive differences between the living styles of white and black, I am surprised. I saw segregation pictures for the first time when I was five years old in my first grade; the second one was when I was in fourth grade; after I arrive in American, which was right after seventh grade, I only saw more. I know this makes me sound naïve, but how long does it have to be before people can actually live in harmony? Before people can actually look at these pictures and laugh like an old man laughing at his young mistakes? So far, I would say, “Not in my life time.”

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The second set of photos that caught my attention is the nude girls set. I stop in front of it, and look at it for a good ten-minute until the security guard suspiciously watches me as if I was about to put the whole set in my pocket. It is totally different from the rest of the exhibit. Most of the pieces there have a kind of serious and determined tone to them. This set has none. It is showing many white guys playing around with the nude girls in a nightclub. After all those images of death and pain, this set becomes an irony. I’ve always wondered whether or not these people have a hard time falling asleep at night. Unfortunately, they do not.

It is impossible to say that these images have not had any impact on us. They are very powerful. Why? Because they are the truth.

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Heading into the International Center of Photography (ICP) felt like entering a regular museum, not one filled with photos documenting the tragedy, bloodshed, cruelty, and violence of the apartheid in South America. The reality of the apartheid felt distant on words but with the graphic photographs, it became very difficult to stay indifferent to the situation. Putting their very lives on the line, the photographers such as Leon Levson, Earnest Cole, Graeme Williams, Kevin Carter, and Greg Marinovich, and many more, achieved that effect with their photographs.

The Rise and Fall of Apartheid Exhibit at the ICP. Photo credits to DLKCOLLECTION at http://dlkcollection.blogspot.com/2012/12/rise-and-fall-of-apartheid-photography.html

Of the very first photographs I saw, the one by Leon Levson took struck me the most. In his photo called Sleeping Quarters at Miners’ Hotel, Consolidated Gold Roof Mine, taken at Johannesburg, 1946, I could sense the harsh living conditions of South Africans. The miners sleep on rows of eight beds adjacent to one another with barely any space in between or to move around in their bed. In the picture, it also showed a person eating at a very small round table (the only one in the room). He was dressed very lightly with a plain white shirt and pants. There were shoes in a messed on the floor and a bicycle hanging next to the beds. The others in the room looked very skinny and tired, with grim faces that revealed no signs of enjoyment or satisfaction.

Moving along, photographs themselves seemed to evolve as written words were incorporated along with people. Viewers no longer had to guess what the photographs meant; we might not appreciate it presently because it’s so common in our age, but at the time it was revolutionary for apartheid photographers everywhere. Using written words to convey a message on photographs was clearly endorsed by Earnest Cole. He took photograph of signs from 1958 to 1966 showing just how segregated South Africa was. Some of those signs said, “Separate entrance for non-Europeans and tradesmen’s boys,” “Black woman scrubbing whites-only stairway,” “Segregated bus station” and “Bus for non-Europeans only.” In sum, what Mr. Cole and the photographs were revealing to us literally was an openly bigoted society.

In addition to verbal abuse and racial isolation, there was brutal violence, often resulting in the deaths of Africans. Towards the end of the exhibit in the basement, there was a photograph of Nelson Mandela with his hand raised up in a fist to show victory after his release from Victor Verster Prison in 1990. The photograph was taken by Graeme Williams. That photo of Mandela, however, was juxtaposed with many other photos illustrating the continuation of bloody violence in the same area. One of which was taken by Kevin Carter of a scene in 1994; it was called “Press photographer James Nachtwey takes cover during a street battle between ANC supporters and Zulu miners loyal to the Inkatha Freedom Party. The photograph showed some white camera men and a black woman taking cover from gun fire. One African was holding a submachine gun to shoot against the other party. By placing these photographs in the same area, the organizers for this exhibit effectively convey to the viewers that the conflict (apartheid) still exists even though “victory” has been declared.

Nelson Mandela with Winnie Mandela as he is released from the Victor Vester Prison, 1990. Credits to the photographer, Greame Williams.

The photos were well organized in the exhibit on the ground floor, placing them chronologically in terms of events and groups. The gallery not only included photographs but also videos and news announcements about the relevant event in that specific part of the exhibit. All images and videos had some text next to it to show the photographers (some were labeled unidentified), copyright, type of print, and courtesy message. As we walked in and saw the gallery from the right, then circling around to the left, we could tell that there was an increase in the tension level of apartheid (rise). To reach the end (in name, officially, anyway in 1994) of apartheid, we must travel downstairs to the basement of the exhibit (fall). With this layout, the organizers wonderfully portrayed the rise and fall of apartheid both chronologically and physically (our movements). And although there was a fall or official end to the apartheid in Africa, the violence between different parties carrying views of segregation and integration still persists. Perhaps the organizers might not have intended this, but I certainly felt the message that the violence did not cease as I was walking back up the stairs (rise) to exit the exhibit.

On a cold, bitter day our class trekked over to the International Center for Photography to view the “Rise and Fall of Apartheid: Photography and the Bureaucracy of Everyday Life” Upon entering two televisions played looped scenes of both the beginning and end of apartheid. The curators of the exhibit set up different areas for guests to view different stages and categories of the rise and fall of apartheid in South Africa.
There were so many photos and videos on display throughout the entire center, and it was almost impossible to view each one patiently and up close, stopping to think about the scene captured by a lens just a few decades ago. I therefore decided to focus my intention on just a few photographs, glancing over the remaining quickly to gain context and perspective.

The first photo that really struck me was of black South African women holding signs, “We Stand by Our Leaders”. As a tour guide passed, leading an older couple through the gallery, I heard her assert the importance of signage to the South African anti-apartheid movement. Upon looking around, I knew she was right. Almost every-other photo contained a sign; all statements of defiance and civil disobedience, bringing is back to the Civil Rights movement of the 60’s and the British anti-colonial movement in India led by Gandhi. The power of disobedience is much stronger than violence as illustrated by all three of these movements. In the middle of this black and white photo stood a young boy, who appeared to be around 12 or 13. The only aspect that seemed striking was the color of his skin. He was white surrounded by a sea of black. Who knows how he came to be in the picture? Maybe it was at his own free will, or perhaps a mother or father wanted his/her son to stand for something that was good and right.

The next photo that popped out for me was a photo of a white South African woman standing next to a sign on which was written, “The Bible Proclaims: Segregate!” As a Christian myself, it pains me to see religion, especially my own religion, as a justification for evil. Religion throughout the centuries has been used to assert dominance over people and mis-used to subjugate people and degrade them. The old woman looks very tired and angry in the picture. Maybe she is frustrated by her own situation. I really like the old statue in the background. The shift from the old traditional way to the new and the resistance to this change is very much evident in this picture.

Towards the end of the gallery, there was a famous picture of Nelson Mandela along with Winnie Mandela. The two are pictured holding hands with their other hands raised in fists defiantly. This pose has become a symbol for defiance and triumphant in the face of such adversity. Finally, after so many struggles, the nation of South Africa has ended legal apartheid. However, as noted in the exhibit there is still a struggle for real integration, as apartheid cannot be totally wiped away by any one law.

Photos courtesy of ICP.org