Peter Magubane was born January 18, 1932 in Vrededorp (Johannesburg), South Africa. His career in photography started when he worked for Drum Magazine as a messenger. He was later trained by Jurgen Schadeberg and became a professional photographer.
Magubane is significant to photography as he has won several honors, including awarded for being the first black South African to win a photographic prize and being the first black South African to hold an exhibition in London. Most of his work is derived from politics. Magubane is most known for his photos from the Soweto Student Uprisings. His focus is on the struggle for liberation in South Africa. He was arrested after taking a series of pictures outside the jail cell of Winnie Mandela and also made a photographic tribute to Nelson Mendela.
Although I was unable to find information on this specific piece, it can be related to other political pieces created by Magubane. Magubane used photography to record history in such a way as to evoke emotion in order to make a difference. Through photography, Magubane captures the moments that would otherwise be forgotten. The moments he captures, such as those from the Soweto Student Uprisings, with "raw emotion"- emotion that cannot be conveyed in the same way if it was a posed photo.
When viewing this piece specifically, I like the way Magubane brings in the viewer for a closer examination of the photograph. While it seems simple at first glance, this photograph conveys much more emotion and stimulates more thought than what meets the eye. When I look at this image, I cannot help but wonder what is on the other side of the wall, "what is this child experiencing", "why are they experiencing this"? I find it interesting that Magubane uses a somewhat somber composition. The shadows cast lines that move the eye into different quadrants of the picture. If this piece is another political statement, it is interesting that he brings a somber feel with the composition in comparison to his other work. The contrast between the composition and conception of this piece are what make it interesting because conceptually I do not feel that this child is at peace. Visually, I like the contrast between the negative space and the subject. The values and simplicity of the piece are inviting.
For my recreation of Magubane's Fenced in Child, I chose to focus on the same composition in relation to position of the hand and the horizontal axis. Using the crib and the arm I have attempted to recreate the quadrants in the original photo. Conceptually I wanted to recreate the image of a child's innocence. As I mentioned before, the original leaves the viewer to question the state of the child behind the fence. This recreation is meant to reveal a more peaceful approach to what the child in the original would have been like had they not been imprisoned.
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