A place not so very far away

The images in the California African American Museum’s new photography exhibition seem eerily, tragically familiar: a crowd in the midst of a bitter face-off with a line of policemen; a mob running through city streets; a lone figure gazing, eyes haunted, over a jailhouse wall.

Though Peter Magubane’s photographs recount the discrimination and violence spawned by nearly half a century of apartheid laws in South Africa, the photographer says his black-and-white pictures of street riots, armed guards and political protests easily could have been taken in the U.S. during the fight for civil rights in the 1960s or in run-down urban neighborhoods today.

“These pictures are of the struggle in South Africa, which is the same struggle that the African Americans have had in this country,” Magubane says. “We share the same enemy, but it has two different skins. The one skin is segregation, the other skin is apartheid, which is the same animal but with different names. The brutality of the police in South Africa and the brutality of the police in this country were no different.”

Curated by Paul Von Blum, a lecturer in African American studies at UCLA, the exhibition includes 88 images taken over the course of Magubane’s prolific career.

Born in 1932 near Johannesburg, he has been taking photos since age 19.

“I was inspired by many of the photographers who worked for Drum magazine,” Magubane says of the forum for black South African photojournalists and writers. “That’s what drove me into wanting to be a photographer, so I could go out and do what these guys were doing, showcase our plight, as black people, to the world.”

Magubane made his name capturing some of the most pivotal events of South African history, such as the Soweto uprising of 1976. But he also captured the nuances of everyday lives. The L.A. exhibition features many of these images, including striking photographs of the conditions suffered by South African coal miners.

“You have the people who go down into the belly of the Earth to dig the gold that has enriched South Africa, but the treatment they got was very shabby and inhumane,” Magubane says.

“You have the men standing in line, waiting there to be X-rayed, and you see the inhumane way they are made to stand there, stark naked. This is what our former President Mandela went through when he joined the mines, that inhumane treatment.”

Over the years, Magubane helped to reveal the harsh realities of apartheid while experiencing many of these realities firsthand. He was jailed several times for his work, beaten on many occasions and imprisoned for long periods. Magubane endured the suffering of solitary confinement and the humiliation of public banishment.

Now, after helping to achieve equality in his country, he finds his images being shown around the world. His next project will explore rite-of-passage ceremonies in African culture.

Although the photographs in the Los Angeles exhibition may depict violence and political upheaval, what these photographs -- shown in celebration of what now has been a decade of democracy in South Africa -- ultimately try to convey is hope.

“The exhibition speaks for itself,” Magubane says. “I don’t have to explain anything. If you are American, if you are black or white, you are going to recognize these images and, hopefully, learn from them.”

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‘Deconstructing Apartheid’

The Photographs of Peter Magubane

Where: California African American Museum, 600 State Drive, Exposition Park, L.A.

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday. Ends May 28

Price: Free admission; parking, $6

Contact: (213) 744-7432