A r etr ospective by Jürgen Schadeberg MANDELA'S WORLD Schadeberg shared some of his iconic images - and the stories behind them - with Al Jazeera. Oliver T ambo, one of Mandela' s closest friends, was also his law partner during their early days living in Johannesburg "He was a very important infl uence," Schadeber g says. "W alter Sisulu was maybe the most important person for Nelson Mandela because he mentor ed Nelson Mandela," Schadeber g says. "He was very important to the whole of South African politics, simply because of his infl uence on Nelson Mandela. He taught Nelson Mandela, he was his main teacher ." The Defi ance Campaign, the lar gest scale non-violent r esistance movement ever seen in South Africa began at the start of the 1950s. Schadeber g captur ed the people who gather ed in the centr e of Johannesbur g town on April 6, 1952 to listen to the leadership of the African National Congr ess announce their plans. South African black men wer e subject to pass laws that contr olled their movements in and ar ound certain ar eas. "These two, they didn' t have their passes," Schadeber g r ecalls about the two men hiding behind a wall in Sophiatown, wher e he worked as a photographer for Drum magazine. The policemen did not notice the of fenders because they wer e distracted, thinking that Schadeber g was ther e to photograph them. "Ther e was always somebody making music or playing," Schadeber g says. "It gave Sophiatown a special atmospher e." The suburb on the wester n side of the city was the last fr eehold settlement in Johannesbur g - the last place wher e people of all races could own pr operty and live together . Befor e 'Mama Africa' Miriam Makeba was a global musical icon, she was alr eady fi nding fame in the bars and clubs of multiracial Johannesbur g. Schadeber g took this photograph of the "pr omising" star for the cover of Drum magazine. This portrait of Mandela was taken in 1994, after South Africa' s fi rst democratic election which saw him become the country' s fi rst black pr esident - mor e than 40 years after Schadeber g took his fi rst photograph of the icon. "It was the fi rst time he r etur ned to the prison after he left," Schadeber g r ecalls about the trip back to Robben Island when he accompanied Mandela and took these iconic photographs. "In that cell, he spent 17 years," Schadeber g r emembers the day he photographed Mandela in his old prison cell on Robben Island. "Y ou could feel a certain sorr ow in that atmospher e." In 1958, Mandela joined dozens of other anti-apartheid activists who were char ged with Tr eason. The accused . wer e all r eleased on a technicality e by But the happiness, captur ed her Schadeber g, was short-lived. They wer e all r e-arr ested a few days later . "They came in with bulldozers and they pulled down the houses," Schadeber g r ecalls of the state' s destruction of Sophiatown. "It all happened by for ce." The apartheid gover nment embarked on its plan to dismantle Sophiatown and other similar mixed race ar eas ar ound the city . But people r emained defi ant. "Ther e wer e these notices all over South Africa, with people saying 'Don' t Move' and 'W e W on' t Move'," Schadeber g r ecalls. "They called him the fi ghting priest," Schadeber g says about Father Tr evor Huddleston, who spent much of his life fi ghting against the apartheid state. He was active in the community in Sophiatown. In the 1950s the apartheid gover nment moved in to try and evict r esidents fr om Sophiatown, which they said was a "slum". "It was a suburb that was surr ounded by white suburbs ... and they decided to move people out," Schadeber g says. But the lives of people in the close and vibrant community wer e for ever alter ed after the destruction of the suburb. This photo captur es one r esident, who Schadeber g calls "the pyjama man". Schadeber g says ther e was "an invisible wall that existed between the black and white communities" in Johannesbur g in the 50s. Even though apartheid had just been made the "law", segr egation was always part of the "rules" he says. "Whites wer e living totally apart fr om blacks," Schadeber g says about the decades under apartheid. He was privileged enough to gain access to both sides of life, photographing social life in black and white communities. "I found the whites very boring r eally ," he says. Hillbr ow in central Johannesbur g is today known as a centr e for drugs and criminality . But in the 50s it was a vibrant mix of music, art and entertainment. "It was a bit of a swinging place," Schadeber g r ecalls, r emembering the black jazz gr oups that played illegally in fr ont of mixed race audiences. Born in Berlin, Germany in 1931, photographer Jurgen Schadeberg moved toSouth Africa and soon found himself on the frontlines of the struggle againstsegregation and inequality. Working for the famed Drum magazine in the1950s,he documented some of Johannesburg's most vibrant and diverse communitiesat a time when the apartheid government was trying its hardest to remove everytrace of multiracialism from its streets. Through his lens, he also capturedleading struggle and cultural icons, among them Oliver Tambo,Father Trevor Huddleston, Miriam Makeba and Nelson Mandela himself. Nelson Mandela "was a very quiet and a very serious looking man," Jurgen Schadeberg says, recalling his frst meeting with the icon in 1951. Over the next five decades, Schadeberg would photograph Mandela many times. This picture was taken in the Johannesburg office of 'Mandela and Tambo Lawyers', the frst black law firm in the country. "I was very lucky to get that shot," he recalls.