2:40 a.m. Going to work: The Transported of KwaNdebele

A black-and-white photograph from inside a crowded vehicle. The seats are full, and other riders stand in the aisle. The image has a soft, grainy appearance.

David Goldblatt, 3:15 am Going to work: The Wolwekraal-Marabstad bus is licensed to carry 62 sitting and 29 standing passengers, 1983, printed later. Carbon ink print. Yale University Art Gallery, Purchased with a gift from Jane P. Watkins, M.P.H. 1979; with the Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Class of 1913, Fund; and with support from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. © The David Goldblatt Legacy Trust

The enactment of apartheid policy in South Africa resulted in the forced displacement and relocation of millions of Black South Africans into newly established “homelands” based on ethnic identity. Homelands both lacked economic opportunity and were far removed from urban centers where employment might be found. While subsidized bus and rail links enabled transport from homelands to cities for work, these daily commutes would often last between three and a half to eight hours. Join Daniel Menzo, the Marcia Brady Tucker Fellow, Department of Photography, as he considers a handful of photographs from David Goldblatt’s 1983 series The Transported of KwaNdebele, in which the photographer followed workers on a day’s commute from KwaNdebele to Pretoria.

Offered in conjunction with the exhibition David Goldblatt: No Ulterior Motive. Exhibition co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, in collaboration with Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid. 

No registration required; space is limited.