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Hypermarket employee collecting trolleys, Boksburg

Photograph
1979 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This photograph is part of a project documenting Boksburg and its suburbs, which Goldblatt called ‘a microcosm of white South Africa’. The only nonwhite person in this busy parking lot is the man collecting shopping trolleys. Although employed in a white suburb, he was not permitted to live there. He would have had to ride a bus to and from a black township and most likely would not have been able to afford a car of his own.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleHypermarket employee collecting trolleys, Boksburg (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Gelatin silver print
Brief description
Photograph by David Goldblatt, 'Hypermarket employee collecting trolleys, Boksburg', 1979, gelatin silver print
Physical description
A black and white photograph of a man collecting trolleys on a parking lot in front of a supermarket. The parking lot is packed with cars. Above the entrance of the supermarket in the background a sign reads 'Pick 'n Pay' in bold letters.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 26.7cm
  • Image width: 26.8cm
  • Sheet height: 30.2cm
  • Sheet width: 30.2cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • Copyright by David Goldblatt Box 1464, Johannesburg, South Africa (artist's studio and copyright wetstamp, centre verso)
  • titled, dated 1979, signed (pencil, bottom and lower centre verso)
  • various annotations (pencil verso)
Credit line
Gift of David Goldblatt, 1987
Production
Title as appears on verso.
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
This photograph is part of a project documenting Boksburg and its suburbs, which Goldblatt called ‘a microcosm of white South Africa’. The only nonwhite person in this busy parking lot is the man collecting shopping trolleys. Although employed in a white suburb, he was not permitted to live there. He would have had to ride a bus to and from a black township and most likely would not have been able to afford a car of his own.
Bibliographic reference
Goldblatt, David. In Boksburg. New York: Errata Editions, 2010.
Collection
Accession number
E.72-1992

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Record createdMarch 17, 2009
Record URL
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