Cape Town (day 6)

Today i went into town mid morning and wandered while waiting for my township tour to begin at 2... ((REMEMBER, NONE OF THESE ARE EDITED YET, AND I'M SAVING THE BEST PICS FOR THE BOOK))
I sat having lunch and saw a very unusual looking man with amazing dreaded hair, who i asked if I could take his picture..


My township tour started, and it was bittersweet.. you'll see by the pictures, your heart breaks to see people living like this, but then again you envy them, their lives are simple and happy, they're all so happy with their lots, its almost unbelievable. The kids all smile, and everyone loved having their picture taken (i asked first, of course), they were just happy that I showed them how they turned out on my camera.. anyways.. on to the pictures..

We started off in the district 6 museum, which tells the story of how 60,000 people were removed from district 6 and sent to live in segregated townships based on their colour so that whites could inhabit the area, and then the whites chose not to, so the district six is left as a clump of unused grass: its such a waste and it was so cruel. The museum is covered in letters from the former displaced residents who returned to help put the museum together.. i saw this tile and found it funny..



one of the first people greeting us as we entered the township was this woman, preparing sheeps head to sell to her customers, its the cheapest part of the animal. It looked inedible, with flies all over the place, but the lady shouted at me for blocking the view of the product to prospective customers..



here another girl is working on carving the sheeps head, after having already removed all the fur. she wears white paint on her face to avoid the sun's heat.


there's something about the faces of black people, they're so very expressive. I can honestly say I could take their portraits all day. They really are beautiful, with all the lines and markings showing how much they've lived. This man loved having his picture taken, like most of the residents who let me take their pictures, they all had poses in mind.


this lady was dead set on posing kungfu style, she made little exclamations of excitement when she was being photographed, as well as when she was looking at her self in the pictures..



this is by far one of my favourite pictures so far.. I cant wait to colour correct a bit on it. Look at her face.


anyone who knows me knows I hate kids.. but not african ones. These children are beautiful. they have no concept of personal space, so they touch and pull and grab at anything they can on your body, they're not polite, they're just kids, completely inquisitive and joyful, spending all their time running around barefoot playing with eachother.


this boy's friend just dumped a bucket of water on him during some sort of game they were playing, and he's still smiling.


This lady owns a street stand in the township selling masks and other curios, i loved the solemnity in her face.


This is another absolute FAVOURITE of mine. This boy was beautiful, his eyes just seemed to be so white and hopeful incontrast to the dingy one room home he lived in. His red cap looked amazing against his black skin, with the blue background and windowlight illuminating him. He was just so unbelievably beautiful.


this girl was adorable, such a little plaything, she loved posing for the camera, constantly coming up with different faces and expressions. she was so happy.


We went to see a traditional healer/herbalist/doctor in the township, who hit me over the head with buffalo tail and told me i wouldnt have bad dreams at night because of it. He wore skins on his head and his "office" had roots, animal skins and dead animals, living turtals, candles, bottles filled with various potions and elixers, and so many other spices and herbs and pieces of plants that you couldnt begin to imagine.


this shows how the homes look.. they're pieces of metal, cars, anything really stuck together, some have hopeful attempts at a garden in the front, with makeshift windows looking out onto their humble view.


Kids being Kids.


spot the whitey.. okay, so again, anyone who knows me knows you wouldnt catch me dead around children, let alone TOUCHING one of them, but they were just irrisistable, like little pieces of sweet chocolate, so friendly and huggable and lovable, i was inspite of myself.

They decided to be models and go for my sunglasses..





and I loved how when one of the school kids didnt want to walk around and play anymore, one of the minders bundled them up and stuck them on her back.

not bad, eh?

I took so many pictures, more than 500 (thanks for the gig memory card dad, lifesaver), and these arent even the most moving. I cant wait to start putting together the book full of images, its becoming an ever growing concept as i come up with more things, ideas and formats I want to put across in it.
Anyway, enough with my ramblings and ponderings.. Tomorrow i'm heading back into capetown to book a tour, i think it'll be my last day in capetown, as the day after I want to start moving further into africa, rural africa that is.