The vibrancy and diversity of Joburg frame the stark disparities of income and poverty that characterize Africa s richest city. Particular mention is made of the plight of the inner-city poor. Schadeberg s photographs are enhanced with text by Stephan Hofstatter (investigative journalist and writer); Mak Manaka (poet, performer, writer); Lebo Mashile (poet, performer, media personality); Carole Rothlisberger (magazine editor and writer); Colin Jiggs Smuts (novelist, educator and cultural activist); Stuart Wilson (researcher at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies); Gringo Wotshela (writer and film-maker). The book was created in partnership with the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, Wits University."

Many of the photographs are as familiar as they are iconic: Nelson Mandela gazing through the bars of his prison cell on Robben Island; a young Miriam Makeba smiling and dancing; Hugh Masekela as a schoolboy receiving the gift of a trumpet from Louis Armstrong; Henry ‘Mr Drum’ Nxumalo; the Women’s March of 1955; the Sophiatown removals; the funeral of the Sharpeville massacre victims …

Photographer Jürgen Schadeberg was the man behind the camera, recording history as it unfolded in apartheid South Africa, but his personal story is no less extraordinary. His affiliation for the displaced, the persecuted and the marginalised was already deeply rooted by the time he came to South Africa from Germany in 1950 and began taking pictures for the fledgling Drum magazine. In this powerfully evocative memoir of an international, award-winning career spanning over 50 years – in Europe, Africa and the US – this behind-the-scenes journey with a legendary photojournalist and visual storyteller is a rare and special privilege.

Schadeberg’s first-hand experiences as a child in Berlin during the Second World War, where he witnessed the devastating effect of the repressive Nazi regime, and felt the full wrath of the Allied Forces’ relentless bombing of the city, are vividly told. The only child of an actress, who left her son largely to his own devices, Jürgen became skilled at living by his wits, and developed a resourcefulness that held him in good stead throughout his life. At the end of the war, his mother married a British officer and emigrated to South Africa, leaving Jürgen behind in a devastated Germany to fend for himself. With some luck and a great deal of perseverance, he was able to pursue his interest in photography in Hamburg, undergoing training as an unpaid ‘photographic volunteer’ at the German Press Agency, then graduating to taking photos at football matches.

After two years there, Jürgen made the decision to travel to South Africa. He arrived at Johannesburg station on a cold winter’s morning. He had a piece of paper with his mother’s address on it, his worldly possessions in a small, cheap suitcase on the platform beside him, and his Leica camera, as always, around his neck.

The San inhabited the whole of southern Africa before the spear and the gun drove them further into the desert region of the Kalahari. They are among the last of the hunting and gathering societies in an agricultural and industrialised world. Small by Western standards, the polite greeting to a San man is one of deference to his unmistakable stature "I saw your shadow looming afar". Although their lifestyle may appear haphazard to the casual eye, on closer inspection, a defined pattern appears.

During apartheid, Jurgen Schadeberg worked for the leading black publications of the time. This way he had access to the likes of a young activists, like the lawyer, named Nelson Mandela. Iconic pictures of many future South African leaders followed.Judge Albie Sachs, an ANC operative who lost an arm in an attack by the security police, says of this collection: Jurgen Schadeberg wrenches moments and people right out of time, place and mood, so that we can engage with them here and now, as we are, at the instant of looking. We gasp and feel a frisson of delight at each picture. Was it really like that? Look at the faces as they were then, the hairstyles, the clothes people wore, the way they looked at each other. What is still the same, what has changed? There is the honesty of values, the dignified and respectful treatment of the subject matter and especially the people who might be involved. In this respect Jurgen s photographs are extraordinarily sensitive. "

When a young, naively confident Jurgen Schadeberg first arrived at The Star news offices in Johannesburg with a Leica strung over his shoulder, he was informed by the paper's chief photographer that he would not last long in the industry with such a tiny camera. Never before was the voice of professional prophecy proven so wrong. In a career spanning over half a century, Schadeberg has come to represent much more than the prototype of the visual storyteller. He epitomises the very best in photojournalism – a photographer with an uncanny sense of timing – momentarily and historically. He possesses an instinctive, idiosyncratic way of seeing, coupled with a rigorous sense of organisation. These attributes are combined with an astute insight into the human condition. He occupies nothing less than legendary status among contemporary photojournalists. This timely publication presents an overview of Schadeberg's impressive collection. Included are photographs in a distinct South African context, juxtaposed with timeless images of an international nature. The seminal works are represented, together with photographs published never before.