Margaret Mcingana, Sunday afternoon, Soweto
David Goldblatt South African
Person in photograph Margaret Singana South African
Not on view
Goldblatt’s photograph of Mcingana (later known as the singer Margaret Singana) was the first of a series the photographer made in Soweto (South Western Townships), a sprawling series of towns outside of Johnannesburg to which black Africans were removed after the implementation of apartheid. The series was originally intended as a photo essay about life in Soweto that Goldblatt suggested to Optima magazine. His portrait of Mcingana, which is a study in contrasts between the young woman’s relaxed self-assurance and the ravaged stone wall, became an icon of Soweto life for Goldblatt, and is one of only a few photographs that he displays in his home.