Before and After

The quarter final of AFCON 2013 between was heart breaking for the local supporters at Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium. I photographed the same fan before the game and after the game, and pretty much felt the same.

A Beautiful Face

The South African President Jacob Zuma visited the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban, South Africa which is being built for the 2010 Soccer world cup. He spoke to the workers on site including the man pictured. He has the most inviting face. His smile drew me to him. In fact I think he thought I was a little odd because at one pointI spent more time focussed on him than I did the president.

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.

'We Care 4 U Forshore'

The townships of South Africa are not a for the faint hearted. On a recent assignment in Khayelitsha, Cape Town's largest township, I used public transport to and from the location. The pedestrian bridge from the station delivers you into the business part of C Section. There is a woman slaughtering chickens on the pavement, the blood flowing into the storm water drains. There are sheeps heads known as smileys which are being prepared by an elderly man who chuckles as he points out the obvious and calls me 'umlungu'. I hear that phrase just about everyday of my life.

To borrow one of Syd Kitchen's album titles, Africa is not for sissies. A western eye may see a life of hardship but there are signs in the townships of a good life. I love the fact the people do not have walls and razor wire around their homes as in the upmarket suburbs. The kids play in the streets as we did when we were kids. Neighbours gather and talk leaning on gate posts.

A week or so after the image was made I sat and looked at and realised that I had some of the detail. There is a phrase in the top right painting that says 'We Care 4 U Forshore'. After so much bad news recently not just here but globally, I found that strangely encouraging.

I found a great film when I was checking on Syd Kitchen, well worth a look.

There Will Always Be Goats

I love goats. My brother has a nightmare many years ago which involved a goat. He was assured that the goat had been put on a train to Johannesburg. So when I see goats I think back to that story and smile.

The remnants of the last elections held in South Africa with the face of the ANC's campaign being Thabo Mbeki is also interesting to me. How things have changed as we gear up for elections in 2009. And with the split in the ANC looking imminent to all but those in the ANC, I think we are in for intersting times.

Fire in my conscience

'Is that smoke?' I said to Lucy. 'Too black to be grass?' she replied.

A part of the Kennedy Road informal settlement was burning so I raced over. I was shooting as soon as I could but knew from experience that I was going to have get to the fire. I had made a few image of people carrying their most valued possessions as the smoke plumed behind them.

I then came across a few men busy ripping shacks walls off and breaking down doors. They were not looting but trying to rescue others possessions who had already left for work.

It was at this point that I was struggling to justify my being there and not helping. With my camera slung over my back I began kicking down doors and helping where I could. I would then make a few pictures and help a little more.

These people have lost everything and I have a great set of pictures!?

Xenophobia - The Innocent

A child is bathed in the Parish Building of the Catholic Cathedral in Durban where foreign nationals seek refuge from xenophobia inspired violence, May 24 2008.

Xenophobia

It sickens me to see South Africans behave in the manor that has seen foreign nationals living in our country flocking for safety to police stations and churches. How can we as Africans turn on Africans with such rage and hatred.

The Other Brighton Beach

Lightning Over Durban

It has been an age since my last blog. I have been using my terrible signal out here in the sticks as an excuse, but after the storm last night I am going to battle the GPRS network to post a picture of the Durban skyline during last nights electric storm.

After an almost unsuccessful stake out the heavens opened and we were treated to a spectacle! I am so looking forward to the next one.

A New Chapter

This is start of a new chapter. I have finally left my job and have made the move across the country to KwaZulu Natal. The choice was easy to make as this is what I really want to do, but also difficult because I had a good job on the newspaper and we were in a comfort zone.

Moving the furniture and the cats, driving twice to get both cars here and all the other unplanned obstacles and has finally ed. We are living in a small country town between Pietermaritzburg (KZNs capital) and Durban (KZNs biggest city) and I do not miss the traffic, shopping centres or the wind.

So what is it I am going to be doing? I am going to be doing more social documentary work wich is the reason I started photographing in the first instant. I feel that I am ready for the next challenge and that is to make my dream job my real work. I will also be freelancing, hoping to do more editorial work and less corporate work.

Although I am taking a break I have been doing a little work on the annual Shembe pilgrimage. Tens of thousands of pilgrims dressed in white walk for three days to a holy mountain where they spend nearly two weeks praying and dancing. It is fascinating to witness and will make for great AV shows when I get the gear.