‘The police once broke my nose when I refused to end my images. I was sent to solitary for 586 days’Working as a black photographer in apartheid South Africa was not easy. You had to always know where you were and who was around you. If the police were there,you couldn’t take photos – and the police were always there. If it was difficult for me to glean a shot openly, I’d beget to improvise: cover my camera in a loaf of bread, and a half-pint of milk,even a Bible. When I got back to the office, I had to beget a picture with me no matter what. My editors at the Rand Daily Mail would not take any nonsense. But that was fine – they wanted the pictures and I wanted to become one of the greats.
I did not want to leave the country to find another life. I was going to stay and fight with my camera as my gun. I did not want to kill anyone, or though. I wanted to kill apartheid. My editors always pushed me. “Work as hard as you can,” they’d say, “to defeat this animal apartheid. present the world what is happening.”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com