South Africans Under Apartheid

Oskar Barnack Award, prize stories

1985

Scenes from South Africa: Black militants set fire to debris. This image is part of Turnley’s project South Africans under Apartheid, which became a decisive documentation of South African life in a divided nation between 1985 and 1987. It was realized with the assistance of Detroit Free Press, Turner’s newspaper at the time, and Black Star agency, and photos were published in numerous magazines such as Life and National Geographic. In 1987, his residence and working permits were not extended and Turnley had to leave South Africa. In 1990, after Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, Turnley regained access to the country and could pursue his work in South Africa.

Commissioned by: Detroit Free Press / Black Star

Photo Credit: David Turnley

American photojournalist David C. Turnley (Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1955) is the winner of two World Press Photo of the Year awards, one Pulitzer Prize, and the Overseas Press Club’s Robert Capa Gold Medal. He started photographing while studying French Literature at University of Michigan. After earning his Bachelor’s degree, he became a photojournalist. Between 1980 and 1997, he was a staff photographer at the Detroit Free Press. From 1985 to 1987 he was based in South Africa, where he photographed the country under Apartheid rule. From Paris, where he lived between 1987 and 1997, he covered the student protests in China, the revolutions in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the First Gulf War. Back in the USA in 1997, he was awarded a Nieman Fellowship by Harvard University, which allowed him to study documentary filmmaking for a year. Since then he has directed and produced three feature-length documentaries: The Dalai Lama: At Home and in Exile (1999), La Tropical (2006) and recently Shenandoah (2012). David Turnley is an Associate Professar at the University of Michigan Shool of Art and Design. His photographs are syndicated by Getty Images and Corbis.