In Boksburg was published in 1982 as one of the earlier photobooks made in South Africa. David Goldblatt, himself from a white background and a critical observer of the dynamics inherent in the racist set-up of his native country, had become interested in capturing the "wholly uneventful flow of commonplace, orderly life" of the white population around him. Boksburg, a legally white-only town on the eastern periphery of Johannesburg which was heavily dependent on black labor, seemed to fit best his purposes, and between 1979 and 1980 he recorded everyday scenes in the streets, shops, clubs, churches, the municipality, homes, gardens and cemetery, choosing a fly-on-the-wall approach. Despite its nuanced complexity, the essay was rejected by Optima magazine which had commissioned it. Several photographs have been added to this Steidl edition, and it contains a new essay by Sean O'Toole, providing keen insight into the history of the book and the story behind the photographs and their subjects.

David Goldblatt, born in Randfontein in 1930, is a definitive photographer of his generation, esteemed for his engaged depiction of life in South Africa over a period of more than fifty years. Goldblatt took up photography full time in 1963. His work concerns above all human values and is a unique document of life during and after apartheid. Goldblatt received the Hasselblad Award in 2006. His photographs are held in major international collections, and his solo exhibitions include those at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1998, and the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris in 2011. In 1989 Goldblatt founded the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg to teach visual literacy and photography especially to those disadvantaged by apartheid.