Jodi Bieber

Jodi Bieber has lived in Johannesburg for the past 35 years. She studied photography at the Market Theatre photographic workshop, a non-profit organisation founded by David Goldblatt. Her photographic career began in September 1993 as a darkroom assistant at the Star Newspaper under the guidance of the late Ken Oosterbroek. Bieber freelanced for that newspaper until 1996. She covered the historical period leading up to and during the first democratic elections in South Africa winning numerous South African Press Awards. After attending the World Press Masterclass in Amsterdam in 1996 she began freelancing for foreign magazines and newspapers. For the past 8 years Bieber has worked on a various personal projects in South Africa. Most of her projects are based in Africa however her assignment to Pakistan encouraged a long-term interest in that country. 

She has been awarded 7 World Press Photographic Awards including four 1st Prizes. She also won a Gold Prize for Reportage spread or Single Page in The Society of Publications Designers Awards in New York 2001 for her work on the Ebola Crisis in Uganda for The New York Times Magazine. Bieber was one of 100 global photographers chosen for "A Day in the Life of Africa" book project in 2002. Bieber has been a contributor to South Photographs since its inception in 1998.

Solo exhibitions

Visa Pour L'Image, Paris, 2002.

Group exhibitions

"Borders and Beyond", Pro Helvetia, Switzerland, 2001

"Celebrate South Africa", London, United Kingdom - 2001

"The Chobimela - Photo Festival" Mozambique after the floods, Bangladesh, 2001

"Soweto - A South African Legend", Gasteig Kultuzentrum, Reis Museum, Willy Brant Haus, Stadhaus, Germany, Goethe Institute, Johannesburg, Regina Mundi Church, Soweto, 2001.

"Lines of Sight", The South African National Gallery, Cape Town, 2000.

"Democracy's Images - Photography and Visual Arts After Apartheid"

"Kom Blom Met Ons" Gangsterism in Westbury, Johannesburg, BidMuseet, Sweden, 1998.

The Johannesburg Art Gallery, 2000.

A South Photographs Collective Exhibition - Series " Durban by the Sea.' - Area Galllery, Cape Town, 1999.

"The Mask", A South Photographs collective exhibition- Michaelis Gallery, Cape Town, Bensusan Museum of Photography, Johannesburg, 1999.

"North Sea Jazz Festival"- Series : The Gauteng Music Academy, Cape Town, Artimediar

Gallery, Holland, 1999.

"Blank - Architecture, Apartheid and After"- Series : Corrugated Iron in Carltonville, South Africa, The Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam, 1998/99, Museum Africa,

Johannesburg, 2000.

"World Press Photo Exhibition "- International Exhibition 1998 / 1999 / 2001 / 2002

"Colours Kunst aus Suid Afrika "- Series "Esselenpark Soccer School of Excellence" , Haus der Kulturen der Weldt, 1996.

"Under the Tropics"- Series: Crime Prevention Unit in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, - Permanent exhibition at Cardiff University,United Kingdom, 1996.

Pro Helevetia the Arts Council of Switzerland.

10 international photographers selected for a project around Political Borders. Series: Repatriation/Illegality between South Africa/Mozambique,2001.

South African President's Office Commissioned 10 South African photographers chosen to document the state of the child in South Africa. Exhibited at the African Window Museum in Pretoria, South Africa, 2002.

Achievements and awards.

Society of Publications Designers Awards - New York Year : 2001

World Press Photo Awards: Various first prices since 1998

The South African Fuji Press Awards - Various first prices and commendations

The World Press Masterclass (Rotterdam, Holland) 1996, 10 photographers selected to attend this workshop. Exhibition as a result of the workshop exhibited in Europe and Scandinavia.

Advanced Photographic Facilitator at the Market Theatre Photo Workshop.

CFPA Humanity Photo Awards (Beijing, China)

2000 Invited to be a jury member.

2001 Invited to be a jury member