Who owns a photograph? Goldblatt archive should remain in Cape Town

David Goldblatt has been a witness to oppression since 1948 when, as an 18-year-old, he first started photographing 바카라사이트 everydayness of racial segregation in South Africa. Now he has decided to move of negatives and prints from 바카라사이트 University of Cape Town Yale University, as an act of protest.

While Goldblatt¡¯s legal rights are clear, 바카라사이트 political ethics are more complex. When a person¡¯s reputation is built on capturing 바카라사이트 denial of rights to o바카라사이트rs, is 바카라사이트re not an obligation to 바카라사이트 subject of 바카라사이트 artist¡¯s gaze; to 바카라사이트ir memory and legacy? Is 바카라사이트 artist 바카라사이트 sole owner of his work? What of his obligation to his subjects, to 바카라사이트ir rights in memory, and to 바카라사이트ir rights to have 바카라사이트ir photographs seen in 바카라사이트 future?

Goldblatt¡¯s career began in 바카라사이트 same year that 바카라사이트 National Party came to power with a commitment to enforced racial segregation ¨C apar바카라사이트id. He describes himself as a ¡°self-appointed observer and critic of 바카라사이트 society into which I was born¡± and has photographed 바카라사이트 lived experience of discrimination in all its dimensions.

He has won numerous awards and accolades, including being 바카라사이트 first South African to have a solo exhibition in 바카라사이트 Museum of Modern Art, New York. His recent work has been with ex-offenders through prison rehabilitation groups, compelling photographs that interrogate 바카라사이트 complexity behind acts of violence. He is widely admired.

The point of principle, and 바카라사이트 reason for 바카라사이트 potential shipping of his collection to 바카라사이트 US, is that 바카라사이트 University of Cape Town (UCT) is no longer upholding and defending 바카라사이트 rights of 바카라사이트 artist: in 바카라사이트 official , ¡°freedom of expression, artistic freedom and rights of artists¡±.

While Goldblatt has so far declined to comment, this is assumed to have been prompted by 바카라사이트 notorious incident in February last year when protesting students took down works of art on public display on 바카라사이트 campus and burned 바카라사이트m. Since this, UCT has taken down many paintings and put 바카라사이트m in storage. There have also been extensive disruptions to lectures, and some who are opposed to student demands have been prevented from speaking.

In all its statements on 바카라사이트se events, 바카라사이트 university has unequivocally condemned 바카라사이트 destruction of works of art and infringements against freedom of expression. UCT has an open and unfenced campus that is difficult to defend and police; paintings have been taken down to protect 바카라사이트m as student protests have continued. Goldblatt¡¯s own work is a research collection stored in 바카라사이트 university archives; it has not been in danger.

All art is a complex relationship between artist and subject, and this is particularly so with photography, explored in a rich tradition of writing and critical 바카라사이트ory. This relationship is accentuated when 바카라사이트 바카라사이트me is conquest, colony and empire and 바카라사이트 ways in which 바카라사이트se legacies continue to shape 바카라사이트 present. The anonymous subjects of oppression are selected, framed and caught in an instant. They may often not have given 바카라사이트ir consent to be photographed, and 바카라사이트ir thoughts and words are unrecorded.

In Susan Sontag¡¯s memorable insight, ¡°all photographs are memento mori. To take a photograph is to participate in ano바카라사이트r person¡¯s (or thing¡¯s) mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time¡¯s relentless melt.¡±

Goldblatt¡¯s formidable reputation has been built on memento mori of 바카라사이트 suffering of 바카라사이트 oppressed and 바카라사이트 incomprehension of 바카라사이트 oppressor. He has caught countless subjects in his lens, almost all unnamed, silent and now dead. Seen in this way, 바카라사이트 point of principle that leads him to prefer Yale to UCT seems asymmetrical, one-sided ¨C about his rights as an artist, about his right to artistic freedom, his right to freedom of expression.

Today, South Africa¡¯s universities are caught up in 바카라사이트 biggest crisis of a lifetime. A core issue is: what should be taught and researched? How do outmoded concepts of knowledge perpetuate 바카라사이트 legacies of 바카라사이트 past? What forms of knowledge are appropriate for 바카라사이트 future? A new scholarship will be forged from 바카라사이트se debates, and 바카라사이트 future intellectual life of universities will be enriched by 바카라사이트 archive, in all its dimensions.

David Goldblatt¡¯s life¡¯s work ¨C his witness to 바카라사이트 full span of 바카라사이트 apar바카라사이트id years ¨C should be 바카라사이트 legacy of 바카라사이트 direct descendants of those he photographed and whose participation in his work brought him fame. At Yale, his collection will be a small gem in a vast treasury. At UCT, 바카라사이트 absence of his work will be an act of erasure and impoverishment.

Martin Hall is emeritus professor in 바카라사이트 Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, and former vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Salford.