ACADEMIC
B.A. Natal University 1975-78 (Political Science and Economic History)
Certificate in Photography Natal Tech 1978
AWARDS
Mother Jones Award (essay on the fishing community of Kosi Bay)
Poverty Exhibition (Sangoca), Johannesburg
International Focus on Women and Family Planning, Spain
PHOTOGRAPHIC BOOKS
1986 Beyond the Barricades (Aperture), joint editor and participating photographer
1989 Shaken Roots (EDA publishers), the Bushmen of Namibia (text: Megan Biesele)
1995 An End to Waiting (Independent Electoral Commission), South Africa’s 1994 elections
1997 Back to the Land (Porcupine Press), a book on the return to land of dispossessed South Africans
1998 Fault Lines (University of California Press), a book on South Africa written by David Goodman
1999 In Search of the San (Porcupine Press), photographs and text on the lives of modern Bushmen
2000 Once We Were Hunters (Mets and Schilt, David Philip), a book on indigenous peoples in Africa
2002 Durban: Impressions of an African City, (Porcupine Press) with David Robbins and Gcina Mhlophe
2002 The Church’s Secret Agent (press), editor, anthology of South African photography, 1976-1994
2002 Group Portrait, a story of a Zulu family
2003 Let’s Eat! Children’s book on food, (Oxfam UK)
PRESS & MAGAZINE PUBLICATIONS
From 1985-1998 worked regularly for Der Spiegel and Leadership magazines. Work published in South African and international publications, including: Newsweek, Time, The LA Times, New York Times, Du, The Christian Science Monitor, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Observer, The Sunday Times, The New Scotsman, Tribute, Marie-Claire, Red, Elle, Drum, Pace, Style, Sunday Life, Africa Environment and Wildlife, Out There
FILMS
1980 Dark City, about Alexandra Township, Johannesburg
1981 Part of the Process, about forced removal of the residents of Pageview
1998 Dancing with God, about the annual pilgrimage of devotees of Shembe Church, a syncretic Zulu Christian movement, KwaZulu-Natal
2003 Trancing in Dreamtime, about Aboriginal and San musicians
PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS
1982 Co-ordinated and participated in the photographic exhibition for the Culture and Resistance Festival, Gaberone, Botswana
1982 Founder member of Afrapix, a photographic collective
1983-5 Participated in and co-ordinated the Staffrider exhibition with Omar Badsha and Chris van Wyk
1983 Exhibition on communities under threat, with Omar Badsha. Essays submitted to the Carnegie Investigation into Poverty and Development, some exhibited and published in The Cordoned Heart (WW Norton & Co., 1986)
1983 Essay on Mayfair, multiracial Johannesburg suburb, at the History Workshop
1986 Co-ordinated an exhibition on the Bushmen
1986 Participated in Carnegie seminar on social documentary photography
1986 Participant in the CASA exhibition, Amsterdam
1989 Going Home, joint exhibition with Santu Mofokeng on our hometowns, exhibited in Pietermaritzburg and Cape Town
1990 Founder member of the photographic agency SouthLight
1990 Participated in a Berlin joint exhibition of South African photographers
1992 Beyond the Headlines, co-editor of exhibition in Holland and elsewhere
1993 Through a Lens Darkly (six photographers), South African National Gallery
1994 A Shifting Landscape, curator, Foto Instituut, Netherlands
1995 The Forgotten People, Johannesburg Biennale, Market Gallery
1995 Kosi Bay: The survival of the fishermen, Durban Art Gallery
1996 Footprints in the Sand, exhibition on the San of Southern Africa, South African National Gallery and Museum of Ethnology, Rotterdam (1997)
1998-99 In Search of the San, solo exhibition travelled to Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Germany
1998 Kosi Bay exhibition, Oekemedia festival, Freiburg, Germany
1999 X-scape, curator, exhibition co-ordinated by the DCP/NSA Gallery witt Nordic Countries
2000 In Search of the San, Venice, Italy
2001 The Fisherfolk of Kosi Bay, Month of Photography, Cape Town
2000 The Moving Spirit, Local History Museum, Durban; Bensusan Museum, Johannesburg (exhibition about religions and faiths)
2001 Once We Were Hunters, travelled to Namibia, Norway (Indigenous Peoples Conference, Tromso Museum)
2001 Great Photographers, curated by John Pilger, Barbican Gallery
2002 Once We Were Hunters and In Search of the San, W. Australian Museum (part of the Survival Concert and Perth Arts Festival)
2002 Once We Were Hunters, Month of Photography, SA Museum, Cape Town
2002 Durban: Impressions of an African City, NSA Gallery, Durban
2002 Group Portrait: South African Families, Tropen Museum, Amsterdam
2003 Fatherhood, essay on a father and his family in South Africa, organized by UNESCO and the HSRC
EMPLOYMENT
1978 Natal Witness
1979 Taught photography for one year at the Community Arts Open School
1980 – 82 Set up the Media Centre at the South African Institute of Race Relations
1982 Worked in production for the Interchurch Media Programme, helped establish Afrascope, a community film unit, and Afrapix, a photographic collective and agency
Worked on retainer for the Sunday Tribune
1983 – Freelance photographer
1984 Consultant on the film And Now We Have No Land
1988-1993 Worked part-time for Environmental and Development Agency photographing projects in rural environments, exploring ways of communicating with a rural audience with a low level of literacy. Photo editor of New Ground magazine
1994 Official photographer for the Independent Electoral Commission during
South Africa’s 1994 election period (the book An End to Waiting includes this documentation)
TEACHING/WORKSHOPS
1980 – 1990 Ran Afrapix workshops for community organizations, trade unions, and church groups
1987 Ran a workshop on South African photography, Duke University, USA, in collaboration with Alistair Sparks, visiting lecturer at the time
1989 Joint workshop with Santu Mofokeng in conjunction with our exhibition Going Home, about our respective home towns, Tatham Art Gallery and Rhodes University, Journalism Dept.
1994 Ran and devised the first photographic course in Photojournalism at the Durban Institute of Technology, Journalism Department
1995 – Ran workshops for the Durban Centre of Photography
1995 Ran Panos workshop on environmental photography for African photographers
1997, 1998, 2001 Visiting lecturer, Michaelis School of Fine Art, Photography Dept, Univ. of Cape Town
2000 – 2002 Presented my work to the History of Art Department, University of Cape Town
2000 – 2003 Ran introductory and advanced courses in photography
2001 – 2003 Workshops for the SDI, street photographers empowerment project, KwaZulu-Natal
2003 Visiting lecturer on documentary photography and film, Creative Lab, Durban
ORGANIZATIONS
1986-1993 Vice President of the Southern African Union of Journalists (SAUJ) (representing freelancers)
1996-1998 Chairperson Durban Centre for Photography
2000-2003 Committee member of the South African Centre of Photography