Jürgen Schadeberg's work during the fifties and sixties and his teaching role in Drum

This thesis introduces the reader to the concept of Documentary Photography and presents its earliest references on this field. The research also explores the most important facts and exponents of South African photography during the Apartheid period to end in the magazine Drum and in its first photographer and picture editor Jürgen Schadeberg. The aim of the thesis is that through the analysis of the documentary film that comes with the thesis, the reader will know about the figure of Jürgen Schadeberg and his work during the fifties and sixties. Just arrived from Germany, the young photographer landed in South Africa and saw the rise of Apartheid that brutally divided the population in blacks and whites. Eventually he started to work as a photographer for the magazine Drum, the only one aimed at the black population. Through Drum, Jürgen Schadeberg made a unique portrait of black society, its cultural events, its sports icons, its life and its political protests; it should be pointed out that no other publication captured the rise of the fight of the Anti-apartheid movement. The idea of the documentary film that complements this research is to offer a walk by Jürgen Schadeberg’s work during the fifties and sixties highlighting the context he found there, and how he pictured the South African society of that time. The piece will go through Drum, the jazz, and the unique portrait he made to Mandela. Moreover it will offer a close portrait of the photographer and a deep reflection on photography concept. This thesis, aimed at all the people interested in photography, presents an analysis of Schadeberg’s work and experiences in South Africa, but also a research about his role as a mentor of the first generation of black South African photographers, now many internationally acclaimed.This thesis was presented together with a Documentary titled "The Moment Captured" (Inés Europa Crespo Esteso, 2016