Jürgen Schadeberg was a German-born South African photographer and artist. He photographed key moments in South African history, including iconic photographs such as Nelson Mandela at Robben Island prison. He also lived, worked and taught in London and Spain, and photographed in many African countries.
Lemmy 'Special' Mabaso and his three brothers entertaining city dwellers, Johannesburg, 1954. Throughout the city there were sounds of pennywhistlers and guitars and the pennies rained onto the pavement.
Balancing act, Sophiatown, 1955. Writers, musicians, politicians and journalists lived side-by-side with gangsters, shebeen queens, and Sophia bohemians, like the one pictured here.
Miriam Makeba posing for a cover photograph in a recording studio in downtown Johannesburg, 1955. One of the leading songbirds of the 1950s, she left South Africa in the early sixties with the jazz opera, King Kong, and then moved to the USA (United States of America), where she was an instant hit. Makeba returned to her home country in 1994.
Priscillia Mtimkulu, making herself up during a photo shoot. Described by Can Themba as, "sweet and twenty...this lovely has fluttered in from Orlando East like a butterfly...you can see her eyes, soft, dreamy, sadly sweet...and her hair, wavy wisps of black silkiness."
South Africans such as Lena Horn, Satchmo, The American Inkspots and The Mills Brothers adapted entertainment ideas from Harlem and New Orleans, adding their own unique African flavour. Johannesburg, 1952
The Ritz, downtown Johannesburg, was the place to go for a jive come Friday night. The Johannesburg townships expressed all the vigour and optimism of the new post-war generation with exuberant music and dance, before the full oppression of apartheid closed in on them. Johannesburg, 1952.
There were dance halls throughout South Africa, from Orlando to Mamelodi, and to Sophiatown. The stages were often improvised and there was real sound, without microphones and amplifiers. Sophiatown, 1952.
There were dance halls throughout South Africa, from Orlando to Mamelodi, and to Sophiatown. The stages were often improvised and there was real sound, without microphones and amplifiers. Sophiatown, 1952.
Benni Banjo, also known as 'Gwigwi', was a multi-talented clarinet and alto saxophone player, band-leader, showman and clown. Gwigwi was leader of the Harlem Swingsters in the 1950s. Johannesburg, 1953.
"We three the Jazz dizzlers be..." The popular Jazzolomos rocked the Reef in the fifties. Band members were from left: Jacob 'Mzala' Lepers (bass), Sol 'Beegeepee' Klaaste (piano) and Benni 'Gwigwi' Mrwebi (alto saxophone). Sophiatown, 1953.
Alexandra, a township north of Johannesburg, was surrounded by open country and farms where cows were often entertained by lonely brass band players rehearsing a tune. Alexandra township, 1951.
In 1954 the apartheid government was determined to demolish Sophiatown, the multi-racial suburb of Johannesburg. The African National Congress (ANC), encouraged by Mandela, campaigned vigorously to resist, pictured here saying, "We won't move!", Sophiatown, 1955. When the police arrived that first day, people banged and tapped with stones and iron bars against the lamp-posts and Sophiatown echoed in defiance.
The Sophiatown removals saw homes demolished and people moved into 'matchbox' houses in Meadowlands, Soweto. This was the first of the major forced removals by the apartheid government. Sophiatown, 1959.
Violet Hashe, fiery African trade-union leader, called on the people at Freedom Square in Fordsburg to defy the 'unjust laws' passed by the Apartheid government. Johannesburg, 6 April, 1952.
Standing for human rights, outside the City Hall, Johannesburg, 1957. The Black Sash, an organisation of women against apartheid laws, demostrated, often on a daily basis, in front of Johannesburg City Hall.
On 13 October 1958, Moses Kotane and Nelson Mandela leave the Pretoria Court beaming with joy as the Crown had withdrawn their treason charges. However, on 19 January 1959, Nelson Mandela and 29 others were put on trial again, only to be found not-guilty two years later.
Sol Rachilo, actor and entrepreneur, posing for a promotional pamphlet for Drum, the first magazine in South Africa that featured black cover-girls. Johannesburg, 1958.
