Ethiopia trip - Day 1
Day 10
Street Cleaner taking a break
Camps Bay, Cape Town, South Africa
Day 9
I bumped into this homeless man scavenging through the weeds on the exclusive beach of Camps bay.
Camps Bay, South Africa
Day 8
Along the Western Cape local men & fisherman tempt Cape Fur Seals onto the jetties with scraps of fish. In Muizenburg and Kalk Bay the seals have become extremely tame and a popular photo opportunity for tourists and day trippers from Cape Town. Of course a generous tip is expected for the seal tamers efforts.
Muizenburg, South Africa
Day 7
With their distinctive high vis vests, unofficial or self-appointed parking attendants are commonplace throughout South Africa. With a tip of around 5-10 rands (25-50pence) the attendant promises to keep an eye on your car whilst you pop to the supermarket or beach.
Walking around, I was frequently approached for money by these men who shared their stories of job loss, food poverty and general dismay at the havoc that the pandemic had caused to the economy and their lives. Often the line between casual worker and beggar was very blurry.
Fishhoek, South Africa
Day 6
Local kids enjoying their freedom on a local beach after lock down restrictions are lifted
Fishhoek beach, South Africa
Day 5: The Sackcloth People of Table Mountain
Sackcloth People pose for a photo on Kalk Bay, a popular day tripper destination for nearby Cape Town
Also known as the Sackmanne, the Sackcloth People, are a branch of Rastafarianism who lives off the land and live in the mountains. They reject modern society and are strictly vegetarian.
Kalk Bay, South Africa
Day 4
Dog Walker
Sea Point, South Africa
Day 3
Local Manual Worker waiting for his bus home after work
Kalk Bay, South Africa
Day 2
Man praying: Local man was happy to pose whilst carrying out some impromptu theatrics. I later spotted him by a homeless tent community on the High road.
Sea Point, Cape Town, South Africa
Day 1: Cape Town & the Cape Peninsula: a walk along the coastline
Young Boy with e-scooter: In the background is Clifton, where apartments go for one to three million pounds. Charlize Theron and Brad Pitt own homes here.
Clifton, Cape Town, South Africa
The backstory: 2010 FIFA World Cup
I first visited South Africa in 2010 for the FIFA World Cup, a period of national pride and euphoria. The cracks of racial inequality, slow political reform and corruption were papered over for one summer of football celebration- even if South Africa were rather hopeless and eliminated in the group stage.
During my six week stay there was one unspoken message amongst all South Africans– have a beer, enjoy the football, and don’t mention the Apartheid era (which had ended in 1994.) Even if the occasional White Africaan would whisper in your ear that football was a black man's sport here.
For those weeks I followed the aforementioned rules, and consequently took very few photos so vowed to later return with a broader agenda. I’d only scratched the surface with Cape Town as I had been holed up in my hostel with food poisoning.
photo: June, 2010, Soweto, Jo’Burg, South Africa