Peter Sexford Magubane was a South African award-winning internationally renowned photojournalist
and anti-apartheid activist best known for documenting the cruelties of white South African apartheid
rule, whilst enduring beatings and imprisonment. Magubane developed an interest in photography as a
child after his father bought him a Kodak Box Brownie. His career as a photographer began in the early
1950s at Drum as a driver but after six months of odd jobs he was given an opportunity to cov... morePeter Sexford Magubane was a South African award-winning internationally renowned photojournalist
and anti-apartheid activist best known for documenting the cruelties of white South African apartheid
rule, whilst enduring beatings and imprisonment. Magubane developed an interest in photography as a
child after his father bought him a Kodak Box Brownie. His career as a photographer began in the early
1950s at Drum as a driver but after six months of odd jobs he was given an opportunity to cover the
1955 ANC convention. Magubane’s work gained international recognition. He photographed key events
of the anti-apartheid movement such as the protests against the Pass Laws, the rise of Umkhonto we
Sizwe, Nelson Mandela’s arrest, the Rivonia Trial, the banning of the ANC, the Sharpeville riots, the rise
of Steve Biko’s Black Consciousness Movement, and the Soweto student uprisings. Magubane was
persecuted for taking these photographs so at times he would hide his camera in a hollowed out Bible,
inside his jacket, a milk carton or half a loaf of bread. During this period he endured 98 days in solitary
confinement and six months imprisonment. Magubane also experienced harassment, beatings, buckshot
wounds, long periods of arrest and interrogation. He was shot seventeen times at a student’s funeral in
Natal spruit. He was even given a 5-year banning order until 1975. Overtime he published 17, has several
exhibitions and honorary degrees and numerous awards including the Robert Capa Gold Medal.
