Peter Magubane launches book on June 16 uprising

15 June 2016

 

Internationally renowned photographer Peter Magubane launched his book on the 40th anniversary of the June 16 1976 Soweto uprising in Newtown, Johannesburg, on Tuesday night (14 June).

 

The launch of the commemorative work, simply titled June 16: 40th Anniversary Edition, was hosted by the City of Johannesburg and Museum Africa.

This memoir by South Africa’s eminent photographer is bursting at the seams with images that captured events of that fateful day 40 years ago. It also includes photographs of political activists who were banned by the apartheid system. Zola Mtshiza, the museum’s acting Chief Curator, said Magubane’s book evoked deep emotions about the struggle for democracy, documenting how ordinary men and women refused to cow before the system.

“All the images were documented by him during the 1976 riots and beyond. Some of the images vary in dates and include funerals, people who were hospitalised and the aftermath of 1976. The book we are launching today is an edition dedicated to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1976 legacy,” he said.

Mtshiza added that although Magubane was renowned for his 1976 exhibitions, people needed to know that his work extended to other parts of South Africa. Before signing autographs, Magubane recalled instances when he was almost killed while capturing the unfolding events.

He said despite this, he was determined to tell the world about the ills troubling South Africa through his camera lens. The 84-year-old was banned from photography for five years, detained and tortured. But this not deter him from his devotion to photography.

“My editor once told me no one must tell me what to do with my camera. He said I must take a picture whenever there was a need, and I must never run away.

“That is exactly what I did. I wanted to show the world what South Africa was about. I wanted to show the world the apartheid system we had here. The only way to reach the world was through photography,” he said.

Magubane said he was prepared to die for what he was doing and would make means to get exclusive pictures. He had even invented his own ways of bypassing police surveillance by sneaking the camera inside an empty milk carton to take some of the extraordinary pictures he is famous for today. He was arrested, interrogated and placed in solitary confinement for 586 days.

“When I came out, I was much stronger than I was before. I told myself it’s time to be prepared to die for the course. With my camera, I said I’ll show the world how apartheid operated,” he added.

The book is published by Seriti Sa Sechaba and costs R780.