Land as Natural Resource: Representations of Mining in Contemporary South African Landscape Photography

Abstract

Photographic explorations of mining have an extensive history within South Africa. Late nineteenth-century postcards produced by commercial studios celebrated views of industrial sites. In his 1973 social documentary project On the Mines, David Goldblatt challenged the positive narrative of mining in South Africa. Recently, contemporary photographers have explored the industry through landscape images that present multiple narratives, encourage diverse interpretations, and highlight the complexities of modern-day mining. These visual examinations emerge out of a widespread interest among young artists in exploring South African spaces and the uneven social relations that condition their production. This article discusses work from three South African photographers – Ilan Godfrey, Thabiso Sekgala, and Jerry Gaegane – who created projects in the past seven years about mining and its social and environmental impacts. It argues that their work shows how contemporary South African photographers are using landscape images to look at environments in a Lefebvrian manner: not as fixed places defined by their components, but as fluid social spaces that emerge from an ongoing set of interactions between social forces. In doing so, these three artists show how landscape photography can be an effective means of exploring structural inequities in the post-apartheid era.