OBIE OBERHOLZER
SOUTH AFRICA
1947
Ouma Anna Jaars 99-year-old.
Rooifontein. Northern Cape Circa
1987
Courtesy of artist Obie Oberholzer
SITE 7: Church Street
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Petrus Cornelius Jacobus "Obie" Oberholzer is a South African photographer born in 1947. Oberholzer was born on a small farm outside Pretoria, South Africa. He studied graphic design at Stellenbosch University in the late 1960s, and photography at the Bavarian State Institute of Photography in Munich, Germany, in the early 1970s. He returned to Germany in 1979 for his Master's degree in photography.Â
Since 1987 he has produced 15 coffee table books on his travels and life in Africa. He has had 37 one-man exhibitions in South Africa and 11 in Europe and is a member of the German picture agency LAIF. He has worked for many international publications. His motto is: 'Life without adventure is no life at all'.
THEME & CURATORIAL STATEMENT
Freedom, I dream up for myself and others.
Inkululeko, ndiphuphela mna nabanye.
Vryheid, ek droom vir myself en ander.
Freedom, I dream up for myself and others, is an exploration of a visual language that bridges gaps between cultures, creates understanding, and inspires empathy and connection. This photographic presentation transcends language barriers and allows people to convey ideas and concepts using imagery and visual cues.
The works selected in this exhibition are intended to be more mindful of the subtleties of our dreams and how we view the world. The works are intended to resonate with us all, and with the medium of photography it does so in its purest form, it does not distort.
Photography is a tool that never warps or ages. This medium teaches us to look, to look again, and to do so harder. This visual universal language has the ability to change perception, encourage understanding, and create a sense of urgency when needed. It has been the reason to incite human action and at other times to inspire human connection.
This exhibition explores the Masters of Photography who draw inspiration from the African continent. It encourages the audience to foster meaningful dialogue in investigating the archive. The artists have pushed boundaries within the medium of photography and created works that have stood the test of time. Archives are not just windows into the past, they are the authentic creations of individual people who lived before us and still live among us. They are the archaeology that was never buried.
PRESENTED BY
