During the 1970s, South Africa was governed by white supremacists who ruthlessly enforced the apartheid system of racial segregation. People who were not classified as 'white', were stripped of many of their basic human rights. In 1976 widespread protests erupted against the injustices and apartheid began to crumble. Twenty-three-year-old photographer Steve Bloom set out to capture the intense mood of the time.
A major touring exhibition of fifty-five prints from the series is running at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery from 4 February to 14 May 2023, accompanied by artefacts from the era, such as publications and posters from the British Anti-Apartheid Movement. Previous galleries include the Guardian Gallery and Canterbury's Beaney Museum of Knowledge. Click to read the promo brochure (opens in a new window). Hard copy available for galleries on request.
Cape Town. Racial segregation was strictly enforced.
Green Point, Cape Town, 1977; a residential suburb close to the city centre. The effect of apartheid was to engender feelings of indifference across the colour line.
A policeman jumps out of his van and chases a man selected at random.
Police patrol the streets of Cape Town.
Man being arrested during protests against apartheid.
Tear gas outside Cape Town City Hall
Woman being arrested, Cape Town 1976.
Grand Parade, Cape Town
Cape Town's Grand Parade, 1975
Street corner, Johannesburg
Man with plaster on nose, Cape Town
Frightened boy, Grand Parade, Cape Town
Homeless women, Cape Town
Woman collapses after drinking methylated spirits. Sea Point, 1976
Homeless man, Cape Town.
Homeless couple, Cape Town.
Man with unlit cigarette
Man outside segregated toilet, Cape Town
Children taunt a homeless woman
Man walking 500km to be reunited with his family
Man walking 500km to be reunited with his family
Crossroads shanty town near Cape Town was built illegally when black city workers were prohibited from living with their dependants. People were determined not to be separated from their families
Woman in her shanty at Crossroads. Black families faced the constant threat of eviction and demolition of their homes for living as family units near cities
Crossorads
Girl with baby brother, Crossroads
Crossroads
Crossroads, near Cape Town
Crossroads
Farm worker's son, the Karoo
Farm worker and children, the Karoo
Man at home, Clanwilliam. The can of Doom insecticide above his head adds a visual element of dark prophecy in a country at the crossroads of its history.
Family, Clanwilliam, 1976
Many white children were cared for by their black nannies
Manenberg, 1976
Whites-only beach, Milnerton
Sea Point beach - a 'whites only' segregated beach.
District Six, a mixed race part of Cape Town, was reclassified as a white area, most building destroyed and residents evicted.
A man stands by the remains of his favourite cinema in District Six.
Angry woman, District Six
Dog with his man, Sea Point
Sea Point, Cape Town
Sea Point, New Year's Day.
Lost doll and gulls, Sea Point
Watching parade from dog toilet, Sea Point
Khalifah performance, symbolic of the power of flesh over steel through faith.
An Idi Amin look-alike, adorned with fake medals, takes part in a parade. The brutal Ugandan dictator was often mocked and cited as a justification for white rule
Woman sick in bed in her makeshift room, a garage. She faced eviction for living in a white area because whe was not working as a 'servant'.
Pensioner in shared accommodation, Sea Point
Tony, aged 23, shortly before he took his own life.
Afrikaans couple going to church on Sunday, Stellenbosch
Woman, Western Cape
Woman at home. Western Cape, 1976
Stroke patient, Manenberg
Woman, Swaziland
Man, Clanwilliam
Young woman, Swaziland
Crying baby, Swaziland, 1976
Woman with her husband, a stroke patient. Manenberg 1976.
Stroke sufferer and his wife, shortly he fell ill. Manenberg, 1977.
Cape Flats
Woman at home, Cape Flats
Cape Flats
Father and daughter. Manenberg, 1975
Family at home, Manenberg.
Family heading to a wedding.
Couple at home, Cape Flats
The card game, Cape Flats
Woman under hat, Tygerburg Zoo
Selfie, Cape Town
Sea Point Beach
Cape Town
Cape Town
