Home Alone

My children are now 9 and 5. The girl in the picture is 7. My children live at home with me, where Lucy and I feed them, wash their clothes, do homework with them and read to them at night. The girl in the picture is doing her homework reading on her own. Her parents live in the Eastern Cape but send the children to school in Pietermaritzburg where the four of them live alone. The child in picture is the youngest at 7 and her, after school hours, has no adult supervision at all.

It was a tough story to work on. In fact I have yet to read the story which was published in todays Mail and Guardian. It left me saddened. I think sometimes one forgets how lucky we are.

Brazil!

Not only am I now a Bafana Bafana fan but a fan of South African supporters. I loved the inspiration I got from the people blowing on their vuvuzelas even though I could not hear the stadium announcer.

Bring on the World Cup in 2010!

Zuma Celebration

A resident of Nkandla near South African President Jacob Zuma's homestead samples freshly cooked beef early in the morning. Around 20 cattle were slaughtered in celebration of Zuma's election victory and thousands turned out to see wish him well and get a plate full of meat.

Being a fisherman I am at ease with the fact that animals are slaughtered, but my limit of 4 shad are on a completely different scale to the cattle slaughtered here. And while I am sure that hundreds of cattle are slaughtered daily it was strange to see classrooms being used to butcher the slaughtered animals.


It was another interesting day in South Africa to say the least.

When I am big...

I hope to live in a place which has post boxes such as these. I hope to live in a place like this in the not too distant future.

The Blind Man

He is a blind man. I could not communicate with him, I think he had medicated himself to a point. He seemed close to the edge of life, or death.

I photographed him in August 2008 and have been on assignment in the area recently. I think I must ask after him, and would have but do not know his name. I tried to ask his name but his mumbling was incoherent, and sad. Maybe I should have stayed a little while, or visited soon after this.

Are we there to just observe? To record life from up close through a wide lens, but at a distance. I recently chose to get involved and the result has so far been life changing.

The Zumas are Fading

I hope the promises made do not fade as quickly as the posters.

The Early Morning Market

It is almost like the song about building a parking lot over paradise. The Early Morning Market is in danger of becoming another shopping mall. There have been a few meeting lately and I am a little out of touch with developments as Elections and the IPL cricket have been keeping me occupied. I need to get back down there to see what the story is.
The story so far is that there is a market which has been around for some time. Sure it is a little grimy and could use a coat of paint and a good clean. In fact it is so interesting that it should be required visiting by locals and tourists.
I don't know why I am so perturbed about another shopping mall going up. I have a connection with the place having done a story on the trolley guys in the mid nineties and used to shop there as a student as it is dirt cheap. Then there is the 700 or so people who work there. Now they may not make a killing or pay the kind of rental that the big chains will. They do not have the branding and marketing associated with the 'market leaders'. But they are real people who enjoy the company of customers, and are making a living there.
It is a really interesting place and Durban would be a poorer city without it.