Mikhael Subotzky: Beaufort West

At the half-way point along South Africa’s great highway – the N1 running from Cape Town to Johannesburg – lies the small town of Beaufort West. With its prison in the middle of town, on an island in the highway, it’s a surreal road-stop that offers everything a traveller might want – food, gas, a place to stay, an hour of sex... Mikhael Subotzky considers the town, its vivid characters and poignant social landscapes, in a photo essay that confronts central issues of contemporary South African society. His first photobook, it is exquisitely produced on a large portfolio scale. With an introduction by leading South African writer Jonny Steinberg and Subotzky’s own commentary on the photographs, the book is both a document of social evidence and the visual manifesto of the best of the new wave of South African art photographers.

The book is published to coincide with Subotzky’s first North American exhibition – Beaufort West at the Museum of Modern Art, opening in September 2008.