13^th of August 2004, 23-year-old photographer, Matthew Willman, was granted a very rare private photographic portrait session with South African icon & global statesman Nelson Mandela.

On one roll of 35mm film, Willman captured a remarkable collection of images that day.

The 35mm images were processed and high-resolution scans were made from the negatives. The original negatives were then handed back to the Nelson Mandela Foundation archives never to be seen again.

From out this rare collection of 35mm film emerged some of the world’s greatest portrait images of Nelson Mandela. The scanned / digitized images went on to brand the legacy of Nelson Mandela around the world branding iconic philanthropic campaigns that have raised millions of dollars for the initiatives of The Nelson Mandela Foundation over the past 20 years. Yet the original negatives remained hidden away in the archival vaults of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

15 frames were selected from that one roll of film. Only one original hand printed photograph has been created. The negatives were then returned back to the museum vaults of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Matthew Willman retains the rights to be the only person allowed to hand print these negatives.

The collection of fine art print works have, over the past 20 years, achieved phenomenal success having exhibited around the world in 18 countries with some of the world’s foremost galleries and museums.

Here for the first time, the original once off hand printed photographic art works are being made available.