Jabulani Dhlamini (b. 1983, Warden, South Africa) is a documentary photographer whose practice reflects on his upbringing in post-apartheid South Africa alongside the experiences of local South African communities. Dhlamini’s meditative approach to photography encourages a closer look at what lies on the edges through an exploration of personal and collective memory. He earned a National Diploma in Photography from the Vaal University of Technology in 2009.
Dhlamini’s most celebrated bodies of work have focused on key moments in South African history: ‘Recaptured’ looks at cross-generational recollections of the Sharpeville Massacre, ‘Isisekelo’ documents the familial impact of land dispossession while ‘iQhawekazi’ maps the shifting legacy of South African politician and anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela at the time of her death in 2018.
In 2011, Jabulani Dhlamini was awarded the annual Edward Ruiz mentorship, which helps promising young photographers develop a substantial body of work under the mentorship of a professional photographer. Under the guidance of Jodi Bieber, Dhlamini’s project developed into the exhibition ‘uMama’ at the Market Photo Workshop Gallery in Johannesburg, which also showed at Goodman Gallery Cape Town in 2013. In ‘uMama’, Dhlamini pays tribute to mothers and explores the particular challenges faced by women raising children on their own in South African townships.
In intimate portraits of these single mothers and their homes, Dhlamini raises a range of questions about the roles women are expected to play and how the act mothering is framed and perceived in contemporary South African society. ‘uMama’ also features portraits of young men raised by single mothers, here the artist self-reflexively considers what it means to become a man in a house without a father.
Dhlamini’s solo exhibitions include: ‘Casa/iKhaya Lami’ at Mitre Gallery in Brazil (2023); ‘Isisekelo’ at Goodman Gallery Johannesburg (2019); ‘Recaptured’ at Goodman Gallery Cape Town (2016); as well as ‘uMama’ at the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg (2012). Group exhibitions include: ‘Inganekwane’ at North West University Gallery, South Africa (2022); ‘iHubo – Whispers’ at the Photo Saint Germain festival in France (2022); as well as ‘Side to Side Johannesburg’ at La Permanence Photographique in France (2022), among others. Dhlamini is the recipient of numerous awards in photography, including 2 Profoto Awards in 2008 and 2009 and a Fujifilm Southern Africa Photographic Award in 2009. He held his first solo exhibition in 2012 at the Market Photo Workshop Gallery. He lives and works in Johannesburg.
