chromogenic print (C-type) on Fuji Chrystal Archive Matte

Artwork date: 2012
Signature details: signed on the reverse; accompanied by an embossed certificate of authenticity
Edition: AP from an edition of 10 + 2AP

(1)

image size: 66.5 x 84 cm, sheet size: 70.5 x 88 cm

Notes:

Ilan Godfrey's work explores the diverse social, political, economic and environmental currents that shape contemporary South Africa – giving viewers a broader, and at the same time more deeply personal, understanding of the country they live in. His photographic practice includes extensive research. Through a process of investigative narration and long-term, multi-layered projects, Godfrey focuses on the constantly shifting landscape and reveals varied aspects of societal change across the country, documenting the country with an in-depth and intimate conscience. His work has been recognised by various international photography awards and grants, and exhibited in prestigious galleries and museums worldwide, including the National Portrait Gallery, London; Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town; Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg; Musée du quai Branly, Paris; and most recently at Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg. Godfrey's work is regularly published in a broad range of leading international publications, including The New Yorker, Le Monde Magazine, ZEIT Magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine, Guardian Weekend Magazine and the Financial Times Magazine. Aside from his editorial work, he collaborates with institutions and organisations worldwide, regularly working on commissions for global brands – including the Open Society Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Mastercard Foundation, Barclays Bank, VISA Card, the Toyota Mobility Foundation and GlaxoSmithKline. He holds a BA (Hons) degree in Photography from the University of Westminster, London, and was awarded the David Faddy Scholarship to continue his studies, receiving an MA degree in Photojournalism from the same institution. This work is part of a larger project and book which evolved over two and a half years into the Legacy of the Mine – an unflinching series that set out to expose the unwanted and perhaps under-explored legacy confronting South Africa’s land and people by giving agency to those whose lives and livelihoods have been destroyed by mining processes and the long-term environmental ramifications. Godfrey received the prestigious Ernest Cole Award in 2012 to complete this project. Legacy of the Mine (Jacana, 2013) was published as his first monograph and was launched in conjunction with solo exhibitions across South Africa, including the Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town; KZNSA Gallery, Durban; and the Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg. Since then, the project has received multiple international awards and accolades, including the Contemporary African Photography (CAP) Prize, Leica
Oskar Barnack Award, and the OPENPhoto Award. Various works from the project have been exhibited at leading photography festivals from Basel, Switzerland to Lagos, Nigeria. Currently, a large selection of the work is being exhibited at the Völklinger Hütte World Heritage Site, Völklingen, Germany for the Africa – In the view of the Photographers exhibition. Several of the works are held in private and public collections globally.