Santu Mofokeng

The recorded working language is Afrikaans. Work by Santu Mofokeng is recorded in the collections of Tate, Netherlands Photo Museum, National Museum of World Cultures, Wereldmuseum Rotterdam and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Distinctions recorded are Prince Claus Award.

• Name — Santu Mofokeng • Born — October 19, 1956 • Birthplace — Johannesburg, South Africa • Died — January 26, 2020 • Place of death — Johannesburg, South Africa • Occupation — Photographer • Awards — Prince Claus Award

Mofokeng was born on October 19, 1956, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

While still a teenager, he began his career as a street photographer, went on to work as an assistant in a darkroom, 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. In 1988 he started working with the African Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand (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. 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, a degenerative brain disease, in Johannesburg.

• 1990: Like Shifting Sand, Market Galleries, Johannesburg • 1994: Rumours / The Bloemhof Portfolio, Market Galleries, Johannesburg • 1995: Distorting Mirror/Townships Imagined, Worker's Library, Johannesburg • 1997: Chasing Shadows – Gertrude Posel Gallery, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg • 1998: Black Photo Album/Look at Me, Netherlands Photo Institute, Rotterdam • 1998: Chasing Shadows, Netherlands Photo Institute, Rotterdam • 1998: Lunarscapes, Netherlands Photo Institute, Rotterdam • 1999: Black Photo Album/Look at Me, FNAC Montparnasse • 2000: Chasing Shadows, Transparencies International, Berlin • 2000: Sad Landscapes, Camouflage Gallery, Johannesburg • 2003: Chasing Shadows, Memling Museum, Bruges • 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 • 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 • 2010: Let's Talk, Arts on Main, Johannesburg • 2010: Remaining Past, Minshar Art Institute, Tel Aviv • 2011–12: Chasing Shadows, Paris, Bern, Bergen, Antwerp