According to his family, South African photojournalist Peter Magubane, who documented decades of bloodshed throughout the apartheid era, including the 1976 Soweto student revolt, passed away on Monday at the age of 91.
In 1990, Magubane assumed the role of official photographer for Nelson Mandela, who remained so until his ascension to the presidency four years later. Mandela was the leader against apartheid.
In 1956, he took one of his most famous pictures: a young white girl sitting on a “Europeans Only” bench, with her black maid seated behind her on the opposite side of the bench.
“He was very passionate about his work, everything else would stop when it comes to his work,” his daughter Fikile told SABC television.
The SACEF journalists’ group stated that “he passed on today peacefully surrounded by his family” but did not provide a cause of death.
Before going behind the camera, Magubane worked in the photography lab of the black urban culture magazine Drum. He soon turned his attention to capturing important moments in the fight for equality as well as the brutal reality of apartheid.
While covering demonstrations in front of the jail housing Winnie Mandela and other activists in 1969, he was taken into custody.
After being imprisoned and kept in solitary confinement for 586 days, he was told to cease taking pictures for five years after his release.
In 1971, Magubane was caught once more and detained for a few months. He then resumed his work while attempting to avoid being observed by the authorities.
In 1976, he became well-known for capturing some of the most dramatic photos of the student rebellion in Soweto.
“South Africa has lost a freedom fighter, a masterful storyteller and lensman… Peter Magubane fearlessly documented apartheid’s injustices,” Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa wrote on social media.