Zuid-Afrikaanse man met een hond op de boerderij van Willem van den Berg in Transvaal, Zuid-Afrika 1967 - 1971

This photograph was taken by Willem Jacob van den Berg in Transvaal, South Africa, though we don't know exactly when. The photographic process, even in its simplest form, involves a chain of production from the silver mines that yield the light-sensitive materials, to the factory workers who assemble the cameras and the darkroom technicians that develop the prints. The image material, with its subtle gradations of tone, is a direct result of these processes. Consider what this implies for the subject itself: a Black man standing on a farm, dog at his side. The photograph flattens out the complex relationship between labor, race, and land ownership that existed in South Africa at that time. The image is made possible by social and material inequalities. Paying attention to the material and making of this seemingly straightforward image, can help us unpack its complex meanings, and challenge us to consider the economic and political contexts within which all photographs are made.