Magnum Blog / A Conversation with Mikhael Subotzky

A Conversation with Mikhael Subotzky

SOUTH AFRICA. Beaufort West. 2006. The entire Mallies family survive off Michelle's sex work and her fathers disability grant. © Mikhael Subotzky/Magnum Photos From Jörg Colberg's blog Conscientious: Jörg Colberg: I don't know whether one would have the same impression living in South Africa, but looking from the outside - and from far away - it seems like South Africa had such a bright moment of hope when apartheid was dismantled and when Nelson Mandela was elected President, and so much has gone wrong since then, for whatever reason. Do you see it as your responsibility (if that's a word you'd be comfortable with) to record what's going on? To preserve this moment in time, maybe to foster some awareness and change? Mikhael Subotzky: I am not sure if I believe that photographers can effectively take responsibility for such things. I do believe in the power of bearing witness, but I see it more as responsibility to ourselves - that we each have a responsibility to try and make ourselves as conscious as possible. Looking at the world around me through photography has become my way of doing that. While I am very happy that I can share images with others and try and show them things that they haven't taken in, that isn't the primary motivation for doing what I do. » Read the complete interview over on Conscientious.

Daniel

I'm glad Jörg touched upon work of fellow South African photographers, as it seems as a country, we have been overlooked for a while.

There are some amazingly talented photographers here

Jaffer

Subbotzky seems like a down to earth, intelligent kind of man and its good to read that he doesn't have any ready made thoughts about photography, that his mind is open, that he reads about the things of what he is taking photographs, unlike the mind of the interviewer, Mr Jorg Cölberg.
to me its is insane that magnum uses this guy to make the interviews as he has so strong opinions what photography should be and it what it should not be, that if it doesn't fit in to his view of photography then the images are old or vulgar (vulgra like James Nachtwey...) or some shit/vulgarity like that (you know Jörg not every man or woman stares to the camera looking like their dead or depressed and not every sky is always cloudy which means that the light isn't always flat. not just jorg, but alec and donovan and hilla and whoever in the hell thinks that flat light reveals more about us ). maybe these interviews, by this guy makes magnum more modern but in my opinion it makes it more boring, more predictable as sometimes people do things, act, (sometimes even fuck) behave, move and not just look like flat fucks in a flat light.

Rafal Pruszynski

Jaffer,

fair enough on Jorg but what do you have against the others you mentioned (Alec, etc)? I have never read Alec being dismissive of other kinds of photography. Jorg, granted, is shut up tightly in his little box unable to see beyond its walls but the others?

scott Rex Ely

Fair enough on Joerg? JFC, who cares if he happens to have a firm grasp on his own tastes in photography? At least he's consistent. The channels he has opened up and the variety of work he shares is commendable beyond in my book. Don't shoot the messenger folks. I guess you could ask for your money back, huh?

bobblack

I couldnt agree more with Jaffer. I mean if you're going to do an interview and cite another photographer/photographer's project (in this case Nachtwey's XDR-TB initiative), at least do the research to name the project. As Dave Harvey would tell him, 'not good research Joerg'...and while i still find much of Joerg's take on contemporary photography incredibly limited and narrow, i found using this interview as a way to showcase Mikhael's extraordinary work just lamentable. My wife and I had the terrific opportunity to see Mikhael's show at MOMA this fall (home run!) and reading this interview as a bit like the experience of the show: one fine, acute, observant person paired up with an innocuously derivative partner.

Sorry Martin, but I still do not understand how with the 1,000's of great photo bloggers/critics/gallerists/publishers out there, Magnum pairs up with Conscientious often. His blog, surely, is a great well spring of information (his list of photographer links, alone is de rigeur for web cruising for sure), but when he writes or speaks about photographers/photography, particularly outside the sphere of his own predilections, it often seems like drivel.

research and reflection, aint just for Victorians...

all the best
bob

scott Rex Ely

The tribalism expressed here is pathetic. You ask for contrast in the images Joerg offers as FREE samples for review, but you are too blind to see that your own incestuous viewpoints hobble you from what really matters. The images matter, not anyone's opinion of them. Who says you or any of you have the helm when it comes to anointing "Contemporary" photography. Again, your tribalism and tender little egos are pathetic.

Rafal Pruszynski

I actually have no clue what Scott Rex Ely meant to write but talking about tribalism, Joerg all too often engages in his little tribalism brushing aside anything that doesnt fit in his little box.

scott Rex Ely

Rafal Pruszynski,, I'm so sorry for my abstract comments. Let me put it more clearly. The idea that Joerg's comments are drivel is pure little dicked envy bullshit. Bob Black and Jaffer and you are living in your own little world and Joerg have must hit some nerve that threatens your ownership mentality to the truth or authority to the the truth. Tribalism is the only;y explanation that I could come up with. Plain and simple, you are all scared shitless that the world is dynamic.

Rafal Pruszynski

Who said what Joerg writes is drivel? Joerg is a smart guy but very closed minded in what he likes. Why the hell would I be afraid of, wait for it, a BLOGGER? Joerg's is one of about 2 dozen blogs I look at. I do find good stuff on his blog from time to time but there are far more interesting, innovative and educational photo blogs out there. The only nerve Joerg struck with me is his inability to accept anything out of the very narrow field of view he has, something very strange in the context of Magnum and what Magnum stands for. His refusal to engage in meaningful dialogue is also very strange, but only Joerg really knows why he refuses to engage in anything but a monologue.

And your comments werent abstract, they were painfully phrased in a way that didnt approximate the version of English I speak.