DUT journalism lecturer’s photographs exhibited in London

DURBAN University of Technology’s (DUT’s) journalism lecturer, Deseni Soobben has received a chance of a lifetime, to have her photographs exhibited at the prestigious Tate Modern gallery in London.

Three of her photographic works will be showcased alongside South African photographer, Zanele Muholi’s collection, under the theme: How Muholi is affirming beauty until the end of March. 

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The selected photographs were shot during the forced removals in Newlands in Durban, during the apartheid era in 1986.

Soobben was recently contacted by one of the gallery’s curators informing her of the exciting news.

She has been a lecturer at DUT’s journalism department for over 25 years, specialising in photography, media, culture and gender.

Her passion for photography and gender equality led her to write a paper on the photographic representation of women in the print media.

Speaking more about her second international exhibition, Soobben said she is excited about her work being exhibited in London.

“The exhibition is organised by Tate Modern in collaboration with the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, Gropius Bau, Berlin and Bildmuseet at Umeå University. I have many relatives and friends in London and they were keen to view the photographs, however London is in a strict lockdown,” she said.

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Her passion for photography began at the age of 10 years when her grandfather returned from a trip in Japan and gave her a Kodak lnstamatic camera.

“As a photographer, I am thrilled. I have visited Tate London twice in the last 10 years, more recently in 2015 and did not dream of exhibiting at this most prestigious art institution,” she said.

She worked with Cedric Nunn, Jeeva Rajgopaul and Rafs Mayet at the Durban Afrapix Photo Agency where her work entailed recording photos of civil protest action, as well as violence at the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands which were also circulated across the globe.

She even photographed trade union gatherings and the funerals of anti-apartheid activists, to name but a few.

Soobben showcased some of her photographs at the Nelson Mandela Foundation Exhibition in September 2015.

The exhibition titled: Between States of Emergency, featured South African photographers who were behind the lens from between 21 July 1985 and 7 June 1990, the period of the two states of emergency.

“As a token of appreciation for exposing apartheid and the resistance against it, my photographs were also exhibited and also contributed towards the Between States of Emergency exhibition,” she said.

Nationally, Soobben worked with S’bu Mngadi and Fred Khumalo at the City Press and covered massive areas of KwaZulu-Natal. She then moved on to lecturing at DUT when it was still known as ML Sultan.

She holds a National Diploma in Journalism from ML Sultan Technikon, a BA (Hons) in Media and Cultural Studies obtained from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and a MA (Media, Culture and Communication) from University of KwaZulu-Natal.  

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