Preacher Dwars River Prison

In 2004, Mikhael Subotzky embarked on a yearlong project making panoramic photographs for his final-year portfolio at the University of Cape Town's Michaelis School of Fine Art. That April he came across officials from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) doing special voting in a community he was photographing. Subotzky learnt that they were planning to visit Dwarsrivier Correctional Centre, near Wolseley, this pursuant a Constitutional Court ruling a month earlier allowing all inmates to register and vote in the April 2004 general elections. He sought permission to accompany the IEC officials into prison on Election Day, 14 April, where he took portraits of prisoners voting. It was the first time Subotzky had been in a prison. The brief encounter prompted him to hone his project and focus on life in and outside three prisons in the Western Cape. He again returned to Dwarsrivier in August through November 2004. This important early photograph was acquired at his graduate exhibition, for which he received the 2004 Michaelis Prize and a much-debated perfect grade of 100% - the only humanities graduate in UCT's history until then to accomplish the feat. Subotzky has since won numerous international accolades, including the 2015 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize in London for his photobook project with Patrick Waterhouse on Ponte City in Johannesburg.

Based on interview with artist by Sean O'Toole, 1 June 2005, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg.