From the exhibition press release:

"Curated by Paul Weinberg, On Common Ground marks an historic moment as the work of two of South Africa’s most renowned photographers, David Goldblatt and Peter Magubane, are exhibited side-by-side for the first time. With both photographers, this is a poignant moment to reflect on their respective legacies.

Weinberg brings works by these veterans into direct conversation, using the gallery space to mirror major and lesser-known bodies of work that present Goldblatt and Magubane’s astute and distinct approaches to photography within the context of a shared pull to document apartheid South Africa and the post-1994 period of democracy.

On Common Ground also marks one of a small handful of exhibitions for Magubane in a gallery setting. Through this exhibition, we hope to address the historical oversight that Magubane has, in his lifetime, received such limited visibility in a contemporary art context."

Common Ground is part of a selection of books available from proto~ that coincides with Sean O’Toole’s research exhibition Photo book! Photo-book! Photobook! at A4 Arts Foundation, from February 11 to April 29, 2022.

20.6 x 27 cm | 125 pages | hardcover

One of South Africa’s most important documentary photographers, David Goldblatt (1930–2018) spent his career highlighting the fraught political climate of South Africa and its effects on the country’s landscape and people.

Peter Magubane (b.1932) is a South African photojournalist best known for his photographs documenting life under apartheid. Enduring mistreatment at the hands of the state for his work, Magubane also captured the complex tribal and territorial conflicts following South Africa’s transition to democracy, later turning his attention to capture the cultural traditions of post-democratic South Africa.