No easy road

1995 - here all my furniture had just been taken away by the bailiffs after I lost a court case with Earl Spencer.

1989 (Photo: Eric Miller) Here I was being arrested during a demonstration against "whites only" beaches in Strand near Cape Town

1988 (Photo: Adil Bradlow) During a demonstration by school children against Bantu education, I was shot at by police for taking photographs.

1989 Strand. From inside the police van, I took this photo after being arrested - see 2nd photo above,

eclipse

Lunar eclipse seen over Cape Town at around 05.40 this morning.

ijazz

One from the recent past - back in 2005, I was selected as one of the world's top 100 photographers to participate in A Day in The Life of Africa photographic event. The image above - of my friend Porkie Klaas and his band playing jazz outside a shack store - was used in the book.
All the images can be viewed by clicking here.

The photo caught the attention of Mark Johnson and other team members from the Playing for Change foundation in the US who have undertaken a huge project to document street music worldwide. It inspired them to come to Gugulethu where they documented musicians jamming in Porkie's home. Porkie has been training local students informally, as well as holding regular jamming sessions in his front room for over 15 years. After filming, the foundation promised to raise funds to help Porkie realise a long-cherished ambition to set up a fully-equipped township music school in NY27. Happily, the school plans have now been drawn up and the builders start work next month.


I have been re-thinking this blog lately since my photographic career spans more than 30 years of South Africa's turbulent history. As a regular feature I will be posting 'one from the archive' - an image from a key moment in this country's history.

Bamako: African Photographers

Here are two images from Bamako where I attended the 7th Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie last week.
At the top is local photographer Hamidou Maiga with friend.

Bottom shows photographer Malick Sidibe from Mali

For more images follow this link to my facebook page by clicking here.

You can also join the Bamako 2007 facebook group by clicking this link here.

Bamako

My work has been selected for 'New African Photography Encounters in Bamako 2007' between Nov 23rd and Dec 23rd this year. Click here for more info.

This year's theme is 'Dans la Ville et au deLà' (Inside/outside the City) This photo essay documented the horse and carts that collect scrap from across Cape Town. Under the flight path of jets flying in and out of Cape Town's International airport, and on busy main roads linking the residential and industrial townships of the Cape Flats, an old-fashioned transport business flourishes. There are more than 500 carthorses and carts at work in townships like Nyanga, Heideveld, Gugulethu and Khayelitsha.

The photo essay was completed with the support of the Research output of the University of the Western Cape.

Cousin

Portrait of Truegelion, my cousin in Johannesburg who was allowed to attend my aunt's funeral on a special pass, earlier this year.

Township Jazz

I've not updated for a while because there's been a lot of work on - assignments for the New York Times, an intriguing diamond story and some paparazzi jobs thrown in.

One of the highlights of the last month or so was the Exiles 're-initiation' concert celebrating the re-opening of Parliament. It starred Louis Moholo and his 28 piece big band. I'll post a photo sometime soon.

For now here's a photograph from an on-going essay on township jazz. Double bass player Porkie Klaas with Soulman Penny in the background. I exhibited some images in this series at last year's Cape Town International Jazz Festival.