South African leader Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) was photographed more than almost any political figure of the 20th century. Yet in truth, most of his portraits look pretty similar. Beaming smile, thumbs aloft, the warm glow of a man who survived 27 years in prison without losing his humanity. In February 1997, Jillian Edelstein decided to do something about it.
Then working as a freelancer in London, she had flown to Cape Town to document the work of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the body tasked with confronting the crimes of the apartheid era. As part of this, she was asked to photograph Mandela, by then three years into his presidency, at his official residence. This was the same house, on the same balcony, where solely white presidents had lived and governed during the Apartheid system of racial segregation. Edelstein, who was born and raised in Cape Town during that era, understood the weight of the moment.
