Margaret Courtney-Clarke

Margaret Courtney-Clarke (born 1949) is a Namibian documentary photographer and photojournalist, living in Swakopmund. Her work "frequently explores the resilience of communities enduring the rapidly shifting landscapes of Namibia." Courtney-Clarke has made a trilogy of books on the art of African women: Ndebele, African Canvas (1990), and Imazighen (1996). She has collaborated on books with David Goldblatt and Maya Angelou.

In 2007, Courtney-Clarke had solo exhibitions at New York State Museum and the African American Museum in Philadelphia. In 2019, she was shortlisted for the Prix Pictet for the book Cry Sadness into the Coming Rain (2017).

Early life and education Courtney-Clarke was born in Swakopmund, in what was then South West Africa (now Namibia). Her parents were Irish and English.

She received Diplomas in Graphic Design and Photography at Technikon Natal in Durban, South Africa in 1971; studied at Scuola Libera di Roma in Rome, Italy in 1974; and obtained a BA in Photojournalism from New York University, New York City in 1978.

Career Courtney-Clarke has lived in Italy, the USA, and across the African continent, working as a freelance photographer for magazines.

She has made a trilogy of books on the art of African women.

Returning to live in Namibia, for Cry Sadness into the Coming Rain (2017) she photographed the Namib desert and its people, at a time of crisis.

Her forthcoming book When Tears Don't Matter is about the remaining bushmen in the Kalahari Desert in eastern Namibia. Die Farben Afrikas. Germany: Frederking & Thaler. 20th Anniversary edition, 2010. Tableaux D'Afrique: L'Art mural des femmes de L'Ouest. France: Arthaud. Affreschi Africani: l'Arte delle Donne Del Africa Occidentale. Italy: Rizzoli. Imazighen: The Vanishing Traditions of Berber Women. New York: Clarkson Potter, 1996. . With essays by Geraldine Brooks. Imazighen: The Vanishing Traditions of Berber Women. London: Thames & Hudson. Die Berber Frauen: Kunst und Kultur in Nord Afrika. Germany: Frederking & Thaler. Places in the Sand. New York: Monacelli, 1997. Maya Angelou: The Poetry of Living. New York: Clarkson Potter; UK: Virago, 1999. . With a foreword by Oprah Winfrey. Cry Sadness into the Coming Rain. Göttingen, Germany: Steidl, 2017. . With a foreword by Goldblatt and an essay by Sean O'Toole.

Books with Maya Angelou My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me. By Angelou, with photographs by Courtney-Clarke. New York: Clarkson Potter, 1994; Crown/Random House, 2002. Kofi and His Magic. By Angelou, with photographs by Courtney-Clarke. New York: Clarkson Potter, 1997; New York: Crown/Random House, 2002.

Awards 2019: Shortlisted, Prix Pictet

Solo exhibitions The Art of African Women: Empowering Traditions, New York State Museum, Albany, USA; African American Museum in Philadelphia, 2007. Photographs by Courtney-Clarke "as well as pottery, textiles, beadwork and other decorative arts created by women from all over Africa."