| Personal
Profile
 Photojournalist
Margaret Courtney-Clarke was born and raised on a ranch
on the edge of the Namib Desert in Namibia. Her playmates
were Africa's children. They taught her to read the earth
and the sky and to understand the habits of wild animals
in that particular corner of the world.
Because of her upbringing, Courtney-Clarke has an innate
love of the land and an instinctive understanding of those
who live close to the earth. And perhaps more importantly
from the perspective of her work, her African childhood
also instilled in her a deep respect for the creative manifestations
of the people of Africa especially as reflected in their
dress, architecture and decoration.
Her photographic essays and books reflect an extraordinary
blend of sophisticated European and ancient African cultures.
With a diploma in art and photography from Natal College
in South Africa, Courtney-Clarke left Africa for Europe
in 1972. Her first stop in Europe was Italy where her love
for art, architecture and photography was nurtured and enriched.
Soon after her arrival in Italy, she started working at
the renowned Obelisco Gallery in Rome that specialized in
contemporary art and photography. While there, she began
to develop a career as a photojournalist, focusing on art
and architecture. Her photographs appeared in many prestigious
American, European and African publications. During this
time she also established a home in New York and obtained
a B. A. in Photojournalism from New York University. |
