Santu Mofokeng nació en Johannesburgo. Se inició en la disciplina como fotógrafo callejero. Su trabajo se concentra en las comunidades negras, razón que más tarde lo llevaría a trabajar con el Departamento de Estudios Africanos de la Universidad de Witwatersrand en Johannesburgo desde 1988. Los trabajos anteriores a “Following Shadows” son de gran contenido político y etnológico.

Exposiciones individuales:
"The Black Photo Album/ Look At Me (photos)" - FNAC Montparnasse, France, 1999"Chasing Shadows" - Nederland Foto Instituut (NFI), Rotterdam, Holland, 1998"Black Photo Album/ Look At Me" (slides and text slides) - NFI, Holland, 1998
"Lunarscapes" - Nederland Foto Instituut, Rotterdam, Holland, 1998
"Chasing Shadows" - Gertrude Posel Gallery, Wits University, South Africa, 1997
"Distorting Mirror/Townships Imagined" - Workers Library, Johannesburg, 1995
"Rumours/ The Bloemhof Portfolio" - Market Galleries, Johannesburg, SA, 1994
"Like Shifting Sand" - Market Galleries, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1990

Exposiciones colectivas:
"Black Sash Human Rights Exhibition" - Market Galleries, Johannesburg, S.A. 1989
"Zabalaza Cultural Festival" - London, United Kingdom, 1990 "History Workshop Open Day Festival" - University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1990
"Women's Exhibition" Malibongwe Women's Conference - Amsterdam, Holland, 1990
"Going Home" with Paul Weinberg - Canon Image Centre, Amsterdam, Holland, 1990.
"AA Vita `Art Now '" - Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa, 1991
"Tenant Labourers" - N.G.B.K., Berlin, Germany, 1991
"FNAC - Mother Jones Award winners 1992" - Light Factory Gallery, North Carolina United States of America, 1993
"Happy Sad Land", Herten Fotofestival - Herten, Germany, 1993
"Montage 1993 - International Festival of the Image" Rochester, New York, 1993
USA "In Transit" - New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, USA, 1993
"Recontre de la Photographie Africaine" - Bamako, Mali, 1994
"This Land is our Land" - Market Galleries, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1994
"Panoramas of Passage" - Standard Bank National Festival of the Arts, Grahamstown, South Africa, 1995
"Assises de l'Afrique au Siege de l'Unesco" - Paris, France, 1995
"South African Photography" with Peter Magubane, Institut Fur Auslandsbeziehungen Gallery, Bonn, Germany, 1995.
"Transitions: Contemporary Art from South Africa" F-Stop Gallery, Bath, U.K., 1995
"The Third International Photographic Biennale", Tenerife, Canary Islands, 1995
"In/Sight: African Photographers, 1940 to the Present",
Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA. 1996"Images of Africa Festival" - Copenhagen, Denmark, 1996
"Standard Bank National Festival of the Arts" Grahamstown, South Africa, 1996"Colors - Contemporary Art from South Africa", Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt, Berlin, Germany, 1996
"3rd Recontres de la Photographie Africaine" - Bamako, Mali, 1997.
"Dreams and Clouds" KultuurHuset, Stockholm, Sweden, 1997 "Democracy's Images" - Bild Museet, Umea, Sweden, 1997
"FNB Vita Awards for visual Art", Sandton Gallery Johannesburg, South Africa, 1997
"2nd Johannesburg Biennale", Electric Workshop, Johannesburg. South Africa, 1997
"blank__ Architecture, apartheid and after " - Nederlands Architecture Institute Rotterdam, Holland, 1998
"Africa by Africa: A Photographic View" - Barbican Centre, London, UK, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary, 1999
A South Photographs collective exhibition, Area Gallery, CapeTown, 1999.