platinum palladium print

Artwork date: 1969
Signature details: signed, dated and numbered P/P in pencil along the bottom margin
Exhibited: Examples of the edition were exhibited in:
Norval Foundation, Cape Town, 'David Goldblatt: On the Mines', 13 February to 11 August 2019.
A4 Arts Foundation, Cape Town, 'Picture Theory: An interaction with the work of David Goldblatt', 25 October 2018 to 7 February 2019.
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, 'David Goldblatt: Photographs 1948–2018', 18 October 2018 to 3 March 2019.
Centre Pompidou, Paris, 'David Goldblatt: Structures of Dominion and Democracy', 21 February to 13 May 2018.
Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, 'David Goldblatt: On the Mines', 25 October to 21 December 2012.
Literature: Examples of the photograph are illustrated in:
Kent, R. (ed.) (2018). 'David Goldblatt: Photographs 1948–2018'. Sydney: Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, illustrated on p.108.
Ziebinska–Lewandowska, K. (ed.). (2018). 'David Goldblatt: Structures of Dominion and Democracy'. Göttingen: Steidl, illustrated on p.61.
Goldblatt, D. and Gordimer, N. (2012). 'On the Mines'. Göttingen: Steidl, illustrated on p.113.
Goldblatt, D. and Gordimer, N. (1973). 'On the Mines'. Cape Town: Struik Press, illustrated on dust jacket cover and plate 37.

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image size: 45.5 x 30 cm; framed size: 78 x 61 x 5 cm

Provenance:

Private collection, Cape Town.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

This striking photograph is part of David Goldblatt’s iconic On the Mines series, which visually documents the inner workings of South Africa’s Witwatersrand gold mining industry in the 1960s and 1970s. Through his lens, Goldblatt captures the mines, the surrounding communities, and the people – both black and white – who powered this industry.

As the cover photograph for his first edition book, essayed by Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer and published by Struik in 1973, it poignantly captures a team of black miners in the depths of a gold mine, engaged in the gruelling labour of filling a kibble – a large bucket used for hauling ore to the surface. The composition is rich in texture and contrast, with the harsh underground lighting illuminating the dust-laden air and the miners’ glistening, sweat-drenched bodies. The scene conveys both the immense physical strain and the structured teamwork required in deep-level mining.

Goldblatt’s choice of framing and tonal range heightens the sense of entrapment, reinforcing the broader socio-political undertones of apartheid-era labour exploitation. Like much of Goldblatt’s work, this photograph is more than mere documentation; it invites reflection on the dignity, endurance, and hardship of those who toiled in South Africa’s mining industry. The On the Mines series as a whole stands as a powerful visual narrative of the mining landscape and its human cost.

Marelize van Zyl

COLLECTIONS:

The artist is represented in numerous local and international collections, notably, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town; University of South Africa, Pretoria; Constitutional Court, Johannesburg; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago; Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Photographers' Gallery, London and Museum of Modern Art, New York.