Paul Weinberg: A history in black and white photography
'Between the Cracks', a retrospective exhibition of Paul Weinberg's work, is currently on show at the Wits Art Museum.
Photographer Paul Weinberg's career stretches across almost five decades.
Weinberg was a founding member of Afrapix and South, two collective agencies that gained local and international recognition for their uncompromising role in documenting apartheid and the popular resistance against it.
In his early career as a photojournalist, Weinberg worked on the 'frontline' of history, capturing pivotal moments in South Africa's struggle.
Throughout his career, Weinberg has sought to go beyond the headlines, engaging in in-depth storytelling.
His work has taken him on extensive journeys, from urban landscapes to remote rural settings and everything in between.
Here we bring you a selection of highlights from the exhibition.
Pictures courtesy of Paul Weinberg and Peffers Fine Art
Young activists burn a car after a funeral, Duduza, 1985. Picture: Paul Weinberg
May Day protest outside, Khotso House, Johannesburg, 1985. Picture: Paul Weinberg
Art in the Park, Pietermaritzburg, 1986. Picture: Paul Weinberg
Shembe followers performing the 'Scotch dance' during the July festival, Durban, 2002. Picture: Paul Weinberg
City Centre, Pietermaritzburg, 1986. Picture: Paul Weinberg
Catching the 'quickie', a ferry that transports people in the harbour, Durban, South Africa, March 1996. Picture: Paul Weinberg
Zion Church baptism, Nyaka Island, Mozambique, 1999. Picture: Paul Weinberg
Street musicians, Central Johannesburg, 1981. Picture: Paul Weinberg
Dance performance with street youth, Harare, Zimbabwe, 1996. Picture: Paul Weinberg
P.W. Botha takes the salute at a military parade. He is shown here with his close supporter General Magnus Malan, minister of Defense, on his left. Voortrekker Monument, Pretoria, 1980. Picture: Paul Weinberg
Military display, Rand Easter Show, Johannesburg, 1985. Picture: Paul Weinberg
PICTURES: EFF march to Kleinfontein
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The Citizen
3 days ago
- The Citizen
Paul Weinberg: A history in black and white photography
'Between the Cracks', a retrospective exhibition of Paul Weinberg's work, is currently on show at the Wits Art Museum. Photographer Paul Weinberg's career stretches across almost five decades. Weinberg was a founding member of Afrapix and South, two collective agencies that gained local and international recognition for their uncompromising role in documenting apartheid and the popular resistance against it. In his early career as a photojournalist, Weinberg worked on the 'frontline' of history, capturing pivotal moments in South Africa's struggle. Throughout his career, Weinberg has sought to go beyond the headlines, engaging in in-depth storytelling. His work has taken him on extensive journeys, from urban landscapes to remote rural settings and everything in between. Here we bring you a selection of highlights from the exhibition. Pictures courtesy of Paul Weinberg and Peffers Fine Art Young activists burn a car after a funeral, Duduza, 1985. Picture: Paul Weinberg May Day protest outside, Khotso House, Johannesburg, 1985. Picture: Paul Weinberg Art in the Park, Pietermaritzburg, 1986. Picture: Paul Weinberg Shembe followers performing the 'Scotch dance' during the July festival, Durban, 2002. Picture: Paul Weinberg City Centre, Pietermaritzburg, 1986. Picture: Paul Weinberg Catching the 'quickie', a ferry that transports people in the harbour, Durban, South Africa, March 1996. Picture: Paul Weinberg Zion Church baptism, Nyaka Island, Mozambique, 1999. Picture: Paul Weinberg Street musicians, Central Johannesburg, 1981. Picture: Paul Weinberg Dance performance with street youth, Harare, Zimbabwe, 1996. Picture: Paul Weinberg P.W. Botha takes the salute at a military parade. He is shown here with his close supporter General Magnus Malan, minister of Defense, on his left. Voortrekker Monument, Pretoria, 1980. Picture: Paul Weinberg Military display, Rand Easter Show, Johannesburg, 1985. Picture: Paul Weinberg PICTURES: EFF march to Kleinfontein
Daily Maverick
13-05-2025
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Between the cracks: Paul Weinberg's photographic journey through struggle and humanity in South Africa
For decades, the photographer has documented lives that are often overlooked, finding moments of humanity and resilience amid apartheid's shadows. His retrospective exhibition opens soon. Between the Cracks brings together nearly five decades of Paul Weinberg's photographic career. During this period, he has produced 21 books, either as a photographer or as both author and photographer. He has also contributed to important collective projects, exhibitions and publications. Weinberg was a founding member of Afrapix and South, two collective agencies that gained local and international recognition for their uncompromising role in documenting apartheid and the popular resistance against it. In his early career as a photojournalist, Weinberg worked on the 'front line' of history, capturing pivotal moments in South Africa's Struggle. However, as he notes, the concept of the 'front line' evolved throughout his career. 'Those of us who actively documented the unfolding events and the deeper fabric of our society in the '80s often referred to ourselves as the 'Taking Sides' generation. 'As I came to understand it, the 'front line' was not always just the obvious news story of the time. There were other ways to reflect what was going on — through metaphors and symbols of the human struggle.' Throughout his career, Weinberg has sought to go beyond the headlines, engaging in in-depth storytelling. His work has taken him on extensive journeys, from urban landscapes to remote rural settings and everything in between. Weinberg's projects explore a wide range of themes, including the lives of the San, issues of land, the fisherfolk of Kosi Bay and spirituality. At times, he has also turned the camera on himself, producing deeply personal projects such as Going Home (a collaboration with Santu Mofokeng that examined their respective hometowns), and Dear Edward, which traces his own family roots. Tamar Garb, in her foreword to Between the Cracks, writes: 'At the heart of Weinberg's project is the body and consciousness of the photographer, whose presence is everywhere felt. Not only does he wield the camera, but he also continuously questions his relationship to his subjects. 'This self-reflective journey as a research-led image-maker is particularly evident in his early work exploring the visual anthropology of southern Africa's first people. Deeply opposed to their exoticisation and commodification, Weinberg is committed to both the politics and poetics of their existence. For him, the dispossession of the 'Bushmen' is inseparable from their reification as objects of tourist curiosity or cinematic idealisation.' In his accompanying essay, Jacob Dlamini describes Between the Cracks as '…this marvellous retrospective of one of the most influential careers in modern photography. It helps us see how the shadow of apartheid fell across South Africa and the region. 'More than that, the photographs in this collection capture brilliantly what Deborah Posel called the 'racial common sense' — a defining feature of life under apartheid.' For Weinberg, Between the Cracks is grounded in the lives of ordinary people, often in the most difficult of times, under the constraints of racism and apartheid. Photography, for him, became both a form of resistance and a means of survival. As he writes: 'Photography became an integral part of how I saw the world; it gave me a passport to travel across the divides that were so prevalent at the time. I embarked on all sorts of journeys off the beaten track. 'But it was the people I was looking at — the way they reflected themselves, how I absorbed their reflections, how they danced with reality, how they found light in the darkness, and how they embraced each other, even at great risk.' DM Paul Weinberg: Between the Cracks, is a career retrospective exhibition opening at the Wits Art Museum (WAM, corner Jorissen and Bertha streets, Braamfontein, Johannesburg) on Tuesday, 13 May 2025 at 6pm. Weinberg will conduct a public walkabout of the exhibition on Saturday, 17 May at noon. The accompanying book will have its Johannesburg launch at Love Books (53 Rustenburg Road, Melville) on Wednesday, 14 May at 6pm. Paul Weinberg is represented by Peffers Fine Art.
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