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roundtownnews.com
Issue 778
12-18 SEPT 2014
Photographer honoured by Jack Troughton PHOTOGRAPHER JURGEN Schadeberg has received an honorary doctorate from the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for a career spent capturing history through his lens. At a ceremony in Gandia attended by Alberto Fabra – the President of the Generalitat Valenciana – the 83-year-old said he was “deeply honoured” and “surprised” at the award. And he received a standing ovation in recognition of his contribution to world photography and a tribute to his documentary skills. Dr Schadeberg was an apprentice photographer with a German press agency, when at the age of 19 he emigrated to South Africa in 1950 and began taking pictures of a splintered society – especially the “dynamic, inventive, and exciting” world of the black or ‘non-European’ society. As a freelance he worked for ‘The Drum’, a magazine challenging the apartheid movement, and found himself involved in the political fight for equality. His shot of ANC leader Nelson Mandela in his law office in Johannesburg is believed to be the only image of the future South African President at his desk. And his picture of a freed Mandela – who died
in December last year – taken in 1994, gazing through the bars of the cell on Robben Island where he lived for 17 years, was voted one of the 50 most memorable images of the 20th Century. His work as an ‘investigative photographer’ continued in London during the ‘swinging sixties’ and seventies, took him to the poverty of the Gorbals area of Glasgow, a divided Berlin, France and the early tourist years of Spain. Dr Schadeberg, who lives in La Drova, near Barx, with his wife Claudia, continues to take photographs of the area around Gandia, of its “fascinating” people and festivals. Accepting the award, he said he had learnt over a 65 year long career that photography was not painting – an art created over time and influenced by a range of external factors including mood and senses. HISTORY “On the other hand, photography is created after the selection of a subject, the framing or composition, and the selection of a moment – within a fraction of a second – and it turns into history,” he said. “Your photo is an historic document of the moment. “Your photo might be 10 minutes old or 100-years-old – it is still history...the photograph is frozen in time.” Continued on page 3
FLUFF UP the feathers and pull on your most outrageous glitzy outfit – the highlight of Benidorm Pride Week is nearly here! The colourful parade takes place tomorrow, Saturday 13th, starting at 4pm from the Rincon. There will a riot of colour and sequins as everyone embraces the occasion – don´t hold back, the camper the better! Come and join the fun – most of Benidorm will be there! See pages 48 - 49.