World renowned South African photographer David Goldblatt has died at the age of 87. He passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of Monday 25 June in his Johannesburg home and will be laid to rest today at midday.

With a career spanning over six decades, Goldblatt is noted for his portrayal of South Africa, particularly during Apartheid when he only used monochrome to cover the social segregation in the country.

David Goldblatt – Young men with dompas

The first major retrospective of his work in the Southern Hemisphere is taking place at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney from October as part of the Sydney International Art Series. When the MCA’s  Chief Curator Rachel Kent spoke to Goldblatt about the idea of the exhibition – entitled David Goldblatt: Photographs 1948–2018 – he agreed, but only if she did a road trip around South Africa with him, which she found inspirational. Goldblatt had hoped to come to Sydney for the exhibition.

The grandson of Lithuanian-Jewish migrants, who left Europe for South Africa in the 1890s to escape religious persecution, Goldblatt was born in Randfontein in 1930, and lived and worked in Johannesburg. He...