 |
| © Lindeka Qampi |
fototazo has asked a group of 50 curators, gallery owners, blog writers, photographers, academics and others actively engaged in photography to pick two photographers that deserve (more) recognition - the underknown, the under-respected as well as not-appreciated-enough favorites. A little more information on the project is available in the first post in the series here.
Today we continue the series with responses from Paul Weinberg.
The series also includes responses from Nicholas Nixon, Matt Johnston, Blake Andrews, John Edwin Mason, Aline Smithson, Colin Pantall, Michael Werner, Liza Fetissova, Laurence Salzmann, Bryan Formhals, Richard Mosse, Shane Lavalette, Amy Stein, Amani Willett, Wayne Ford, S. Billie Mandle, Leslie K. Brown, Gordon Stettinius, Marc Feustel, Hin Chua, Adriana Rios Monsalve, Daniel Augschoell, Larissa Leclair, Elinor Carucci, Pieter Wisse, Daniel Echevarría, Natalie Minik, Qiana Mestrich, Jason Landry, Rona Chang, Stella Kramer, Joanne Lukitsh, Yumi Goto, Gwen Lafage, Heidi Romano, Julie Grahame, Stefano Bianchi, Steve Bisson, Charles Guice, Ulf Fågelhammar, Tamas Dezso, Oliver Schneider, Julia Schiller, Lars Boering, John Matkowsky, Greater Middle East Photo, Adriana Teresa and Luca Desienna.
 |
| © Paul Grendon |
Respondent
Paul Weinberg is a South African-born photographer with a strong commitment to the land and its people. He was a founding member of Afrapix photographic agency, which was well known for its uncompromising stand and visual portrayal of the apartheid system as well as for its resistance to it, and of South Photographs, a family of South African documentary photographers.
Weinberg has a large body of work that explores the people, life, culture and environment around him, beyond the news and beyond the headlines. His work has often been against the traffic, challenging stereotypes, prevailing comfortable myths and himself - as in the case of his portrait of his hometown, Pietermaritzburg (Going Home, 1985-90).
His work on indigenous people and related issues has often taken him years to complete, living with people for months at a time. In Search of the San was a long and in-depth documentation about the lives of the modern San living in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. He has spent the last 25 years involved in this project, living and reflecting on their modern day existence. The outcome of these efforts resulted in a number of exhibitions locally and internationally and two books (In Search of the San, Once We Were Hunters) and a contribution to others – Bushmen Art and Voices of the San. His work with the Kosi Bay community, at the time under threat of removal by the apartheid government and the local conservation authorities, developed into a three-year relationship and exhibition for which he received the Mother Jones Documentary Award. His work Once We Were Hunters, explores how indigenous people in Africa relate to their environment, conservation and tourism in challenging times. In the last number of years he completed a book on his own city, Durban; Travelling Light, a kind of retrospective of his life's work; and Moving Spirit, his latest project which is a personal spiritual journey in Southern Africa.
He continues to work as a photographer, occasional filmmaker and writer exploring issues, themes and telling stories about his country and continent. He is presently Senior Curator of Visual Archives, Manuscripts and Archives, University of Cape Town.
Selections
Paul Grendon and Lindeka Qampi
Paul Grendon is what I would call an "underexposed" photographer. He has a long history of working with communities and land. His most well known work was during the apartheid period when he photographed people in their struggle against removals in the remote Namaqulaland area, bordering Namibia. This became a landmark court case and people successfully resisted their removal. He has an extraordinary eye.
 |
| © Paul Grendon |
 |
| © Paul Grendon |
 |
| © Paul Grendon |
Lindeka Qampi is what we call in South Africa, a "street photographer." She has been working with a network of photographers in Cape Town called Iliso Labantu (Eye of the People). A "street photographer" typically makes a living from taking portraits (often in the street), photographing events like weddings, tradition rituals, parties, etc. and is paid for this work. She has been documenting life in around her community for many years. Her recent project was with Shady Patterson, an NYU masters student, on "street fashion in Cape Town."
 |
| © Lindeka Qampi |
 |
| © Lindeka Qampi |
 |
| © Lindeka Qampi |