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Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Ken Oosterbroek

photography by Canor Luddy

Ken Oosterbroek was a South African photojournalist and member of the Bang-Bang Club. He worked for The Star in Johannesburg, which was South Africa’s biggest daily broadsheet.

Oosterbroek, the chief photographer for Johannesburg鈥檚 The Star newspaper, was shot and killed while covering a gun battle.

Oosterbroek found success after winning a Liford Award for South African Photographer of the Year, which he was nominated two more times for later in his life.

It was a bittersweet time for those who worked at The Star during that period. Ken was a larger-than-life presence, an intricate personality with a wonderful talent.

1. Twenty Years after the death of the amazing Ken Oosterbroek family gathered

Exhibition by Eric Park

Twenty years after his death, his friends, family, and colleagues gathered at the Wits Origins Centre.

They gathered for the opening of an exhibition honoring the work of this extraordinary photojournalist on Wednesday night.

The exhibition curates some of Oosterbroek鈥檚 work, and photographs of him practicing his craft, in a celebration of the profession, and art, of photojournalism.

He is renowned for being a part of a group of four prominent photographers who became known as the Bang-Bang Club.

2. The Bang Bang club amazingly started by a group of four photographers during the war

The Bang-Bang Club was a group of four young war photographers, friends, and colleagues, Ken Oosterbroek, Kevin Carter, Greg Marinovich, and Joao Silva.

They took many of the photographs that encapsulate the final violent years of racist white South Africa.

Two of them won Pulitzer Prizes for individual photos, Ken, the oldest and a mentor to the others, died, accidentally shot while working.

Kevin, the most troubled of the four, committed suicide weeks after winning his Pulitzer for a photograph of a starving baby in the Sudanese famine.

The Bang-Bang Club tells their uniquely powerful war stories. It tells the story of four remarkable young men.

It tells of the stresses, tensions, and moral dilemmas of working in situations of extreme violence, pain, and suffering, the relationships between the four, and the story of the end of apartheid.

3. The fascinating Star daily newspaper covers the heart of the nation in South Africa

Newspaper by Mattias Diesel

The evolution of South Africa鈥檚 news media has been fraught with uncertainties as the nation鈥檚 news organizations

From negotiating organizational, and occupational ideologies and reporting strategies in the post鈥恆partheid era.

The mainstream English press in particular has been struggling for a sense of identity despite a history of anti鈥恆partheid 鈥榳atchdog鈥� activity.

The Star is a daily newspaper based in Gauteng, South Africa. The paper is distributed mainly in Gauteng and other provinces.

The Star covers the nation’s heart with unequaled reporting of local, national, and international news and sport.

4. The famous Ken Oosterbroek was born in Johannesburg he struggled in his career

Ken Oosterbroek was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1962. He initially struggled to start a career in photography.

Presenting photos taken illegally in Angola to various newspapers. He was eventually hired by The Star, a daily newspaper based in Johannesburg.

He worked for the paper for several years, covering the struggle against apartheid in the townships with his best friend Kevin Carter, before being appointed its chief photographer in 1991.

In April 1994, a few days before the country鈥檚 first democratic elections, Oosterbroek and Greg Marinovich went to Thokoza, a township located south of Johannesburg, to cover a firefight.

5. Oosterbroek unbelievably won numerous photography awards for his work 

Awards by Ariel/

Oosterbroek won multiple photography awards for his work. He was named Ilford Press Photographer of the Year.

He won the South African Press award in 1989 and 1991 and won the second prize in the General News category of the World Press Photo Awards in 1992.

He initially struggled to get his start in photography, going from paper to paper trying to get a job based on photos

He would take illegally fellow conscripts during his military service in southern Angola. Simone Kley is the 2^nd recipient of the annual Ken Oosterbroek Fellowship Award.

6. Photography is an interesting powerful tool of resistance

Photography was a powerful tool of resistance for many reasons. Much of its power lay in its ability to expose the humanity of non-white racial groups that apartheid concealed at all costs.

Photography was chosen for this investigation because it continuously played a role in the subversion of the hegemonic visual discourse the Nationalist party molded to support apartheid.

Resistance photography allowed whites to see the conditions their government’s policies forced Africans into, and reflect on the inhumanity of apartheid.

7. The fascinating FotoZA is a tourist attraction gallery 

The gallery is a fine art photography gallery aiming to showcase the best South African Photographer’s work.

FotoZA in Rosebank is every Johannesburg resident and visitor鈥檚 favorite photo studio because it offers more than just a studio.

You can indulge in some coffee, and enjoy exhibitions from talented artists and photographers, plus hire the event space if you need to host something.

8. Remarkably Ken Oosterbroek married Monica he had one daughter 

Marriage by Drew Coffman/

Oosterbroek was married to journalist Monica Oosterbroek, from 1991 until his death. He had one daughter, named Tabitha, from a previous relationship.

Journalist Monica Nicolson Oosterbroek Hilton-Barber Zwolsman married and lost both her beloved husbands.

Her award-winning photographers Ken Oosterbroek and Steven Hilton-Barber, as well as her precious 16-month-old son, Benjamin.

9. After fifteen months there was an astonishing inquest into Oosterbroek鈥檚 death 

In July 1995, South Africa began a fifteen-month inquest into Oosterbroek鈥檚 death. Despite overwhelming evidence and ballistics.

His death proved that only the peacekeepers were close enough to have shot and killed him, the magistrate ruled that no one could be found responsible for Oosterbroek鈥檚 death.

However, in January 1999, photographer Greg Marinovich, a close friend of Oosterbroek鈥檚, had a chance to meet with one of the peacekeepers who had been fighting in Thokoza.

On the day of Oosterbroek鈥檚 death, Brian Mkhize, although Mkhize initially claimed it must have been Inkatha supporters shooting from the responsible hostel.

10. The famous Oosterbroek was killed by gunfire during  National Peacekeeping

Oosterbroek was shot and killed by members of South Africa鈥檚 National Peacekeeping Force NPKF in Thokoza Township.

He and other photographers were covering a clash between peacekeepers and the African National Congress when the peacekeepers opened fire and shot Oosterbroek and fellow Bang-Bang Club member Greg Marinovich.