So often when we photograph places of interest, we look solely at the aesthetics of the scene. How does the light make it feel? What interesting shapes appear in the final image to draw the eye in? Which details shall I leave out to create a stronger composition? These are usually the things going through a photographer’s head. Occasionally though, there is a subject that is so much more powerful and important than our everlasting search for spectacular and beautiful images. Nelson Mandela’s cell on Robben Island was just such a place.

Robben Island Maximum Security wing yard wall

Background for context

I, Tim, am a South African and British hybrid. I’ve spent half my life in South Africa and half in the United Kingdom near London. I had an English father and a South African mother. I grew up in the apartheid South Africa (Durban) as a typical privileged white male.

Apartheid

Nobody really spoke of apartheid issues at our (all white) school. Apartheid was deemed a good thing by most white adults as it meant prosperity for the few, cheap labour, and it kept people, who were made out to be ‘slightly less human than us’, at bay. It was only in my last years of schooling and starting college that I started to question the evil status quo.

I started hanging around with friends who were anti-apartheid and questioning the government’s policy and lack of human rights if you weren’t white.  During this time, I met a number of people who had been targeted by the apartheid government security police (BOSS – Bureau of State Security, later NIS). Some of them had been tortured, whilst some had lost loved ones who had been killed by the state. One friend had a bomb go off in her office and it killed a fellow worker. The parcel bomb was believed to have been sent by the government security services. Another friend’s boyfriend was murdered by the army when he fled to a neighbouring country. These friends were white but supported anti-apartheid organisations. It was even worse if you were black. I heard many accounts of pain and death at the hands of the state. This turned me into a highly cynical individual when it comes to government and corporate behaviour, as Ally will testify to.

South African Army

When I was called up to go into the South African army (all white male South Africans had to do 2 years in the army then) I had to make some choices. The army at that time had two main roles. To fight the ANC, who are now the government, and to keep black people in subservience with a strong military presence in the townships. (Townships were black only towns with few amenities and situated far away from the affluent white areas. Apartheid is an Afrikaans word meaning apartness. Whites lived in white areas, Black people in black zoned areas etc. Different races each had their own area. This was the law and severe punishments were metered out for breaking it.)

The Choice

I could not agree with any of those horrific policies so just before I was due to report for duty I hatched an exit plan. I wrote a letter to the army intake officer telling him that I was out of the country and was unable to get back to report for duty. Explaining that that I would let them know as soon as I returned, I posted the letter to a friend in London who then sent it on to the army so it arrived back in SA with a UK stamp. This bought me time. By time I mean a number of harrowing months of worrying that I would be arrested. I finally managed to leave the country almost 6 months later.

Why couldn’t I just be a political objector?

The price for political objection was 6 years prison and as I was only in my mid-twenties I didn’t consider that as a viable option. This is always something that has always left me feeling guilty, as I was fortunate enough to leave, while millions of South Africans had to stay and endure.

Before anybody thinks that I am just anti-authority (well… maybe I am a bit) I must point out that I was in the London Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) as a forensic specialist photographer for 7 years.

It is through this lens that I viewed Robben Island, the maximum-security prison island for political prisoners.

Trip to Robben Island

It was a beautiful Cape Town summer’s day, but Ally and my hopes to visit Robben Island had been dashed the night before. It turns out that you have to book weeks or sometimes months in advance. We decided to go down to the booking office in case there were any cancellations. As we arrived one of the booking staff had just got a few cancelled tickets so we were on our way.

A half an hour boat trip across the sea with spectacular views of Table Mountain in the background does not prepare one for the heart-breaking yet inspiring visit to come.

Prisoners were forced to dig rocks in this quarry. The cave is where they sheltered from the harsh sun during breaks

Arrival and the bus trip

Whilst you are not allowed to wander around by yourself you do get a very knowledgeable guide on the bus tour. Very often this is a former prisoner from the island. On the tour you visit the quarry where the prisoners broke rocks, see the light house and staff village and find out interesting facts like that Robben Island was once a leper colony amongst other things.

Here is also where there is now a significant pile of rocks. This was started by Nelson Mandela, who after being elected President, attended a reunion on Robben Island. He walked off to the side dropped a rock onto the ground. He was followed by many of the former prisoners who added their own rock to the pile. This formed a rock memorial to their time on the island.

It is because of the bright sun off the rocks, the alkalinity of rocks and constant exposure that Nelson Mandela’s tear ducts were damaged. Press photographers were asked not to use flash when taking photographs of him.

Once into the maximum security cell area we had a new guide who was once an inmate with Nelson Mandela.

Robben Island ex-prisoner guide

Maximum security wing

From a purely photographic point of view, the maximum security wing, with its grey cells, barbed wire and sparse vegetation is nothing to write home about. Then you hear the stories about how Africa National Congress activist Nelson Mandela with help from Ahmed Kathrada and Walter Sisulu wrote the book ‘Long walk to freedom’ under the noses of the guards and hid pages in the garden in tins, the whole place comes alive. Stories from somebody who was there, about how they hid secret messages in a tennis ball and threw it over the wall ‘by mistake’ so they could communicate with other inmates, just leave you in awe of these men who were beaten but not broken. What impressed me most about these heroic individuals was their overriding hope in even the darkest times of their lives.

Nelson Mandela’s cell

Whilst the tiny cell no 5 that was Nelson Mandela’s (Madiba’s) home for so long initially leaves an impression of sadness. That a man can be caged for such a large part of his life because he fought for human rights is no small thing.  This feeling however soon evaporates. It is replaced by the incredible hope that if a man imprisoned and mis-treated for 27 years can forgive his captors, and then become one of the worlds greatest leaders and Nobel Peace Prize winner, then anything is possible.

Nelson Mandela’s cell on Robben Island

Cells on Robben Island Maximum security wing

I would have loved to go into the cell to photograph from Nelson’s point of view but unfortunately the cells are locked. So, I had to hang back until the crowd had gone,  then photograph the corridor to try to show the loneliness of it all.

Nelson Mandela’s cell and lock with plate and toilet bucket

The prison yard and garden

Outside Nelson Mandela’s cell in the prison yard are a few bushes that seem to survive in waterless environments. This area is where, later in his incarceration, Nelson tended the garden and hid the manuscript pages for his book. I often try to hang back during any guided tour to get images of the place without tourists. This didn’t work this time so I had to settle for the close up view rather than the large expanse of the yard I was hoping for.

The bright light against the walls, calls for creative exposure. You can’t rely on your camera’s internal light meter for this.

Robben Island Maximum Security Wing garden and exercise yard where manuscript for “Long walk to freedom’ was hidden

Why Black and White?

I have converted many of the images from Robben Island and Nelson Mandela’s cell into Black and White. I feel that the lack of colour helps to reflect the stark and colourless living conditions these South African heroes endured. The high contrast also reflects the intense brightness of the sun beating down onto that little island. Although we photographed with digital cameras we would really like to return with film cameras, with black and white film. See here if you want to see how to convert colour to black and white.

Photograph from the soul

This trip was a very different and special one for me. I am usually very excited about shapes and contrast and textures, but during our visit to Robben Island and Nelson Mandela’s cell my creative photography took a back seat.

Most of the time I photograph subjects from the creative part of my brain. There comes a time occasionally however, when I’m so overwhelmed by the subject. Here, the only thing to do is to look at the scene in wonder, and hope that my photographic auto-pilot will take care of the technical side. This is so my soul can do justice to the final image. Robben Island and Nelson Mandela’s cell was that place for me.

Cape Town from Robben Island

Whilst you’re in Cape Town, don’t forget to take a trip up Table Mountain and the best coffee shop in the world, Truth Coffee.

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Woza Moya Upcycling is a key part of Woza Moya and the Hillcrest AIDS Centre trust and not only brings in well needed funds for the centre but is also playing a huge role in the recycling of unwanted waste that would otherwise go to landfill. Have a look at the amazing products these recycling masters create!

Woza Moya & Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust

In case you haven’t seen Part 1 of our Woza Moya post, here’s a quick rundown. Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust and Woza Moya are a lifeline of support and hope to hundreds, (thousands if you include their dependents), of otherwise desperate people. All whilst masquerading as a beautiful little craft shop. Although specialising in traditional beadwork, they also sell all types of African art and craft. This includes  painting, sewing, wirework, crochet, pottery, fabric painting and woodwork. As well as this, repurposing and upcycling waste to make beautiful products.

The Masters of Woza Moya Upcycling

During our visit, we met Francis in the Upcycling Centre at Woza Moya / Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust. Now Francis has the most amazing job for which he is perfect. He upcycles stuff! And when I say stuff, I mean all those random things that we think are useless and throw away.

Francis – Upcycling King

He is so incredibly creative he makes all sorts of beautiful house accessories, and bags out of anything – plastic, glass bottles, even old teabag packets are just a few examples. These are made into a variety of bags of different sizes, light fittings and lamp stands which then go up for sale in the shop! There was even a large box of bottle tops, awaiting such inspiration from Francis!

Glass Cutting Supremo Frank

We also met Frank, who painstakingly ‘cuts’ down old donated wine bottles with a hot and cold water process. The edges are filed down so they’re safe and these are then sold as drinking glasses and lights! Ingenious!

Frank – supremo glass upcycler

Entering Verna’s Magical Haberdashery Grotto!

Textiles are donated which are then painstakingly sorted by Verna and her team into colours and types. These are then sold on to those who can make items that then also go up for sale in the craft shop. To buy these textiles, are to us pennies and cents, but to a rural South African, it can still be a large amount.

Verna – Haberdashery and Textiles Queen

Supporting the Gogos (aka Granny Support Group)

Very sadly, much of the older generation have outlived their children and there are just under 2 million orphans due to the AIDS crisis in South Africa. Grandparents are left to look after their grandchildren, and understandably are ill-equipped to cope with the emotional, physical and financial issues that come with looking after children. Not only that, they could have as many as 20 grandchildren to support. So, the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust gives lessons to the grannies, (or gogos) in their local area, to empower, educate and uplift them in caring for their grandchildren.

In addition to all of this, the grounds are set in a garden nursery. The nursery features some of Francis’ upcycling shoes with great shrubs and flowers.

Upcycled shoes for sale in the nursery

Respite Unit

There is a 24-bed respite and care unit for those affected by the disease which is free – something that’s uncommon in South Africa. The number of patients who came out of there in the early days, was very limited. This was when HIV and AIDS were taboo and there was neither the understanding of the disease, nor the drugs to help. Now, it’s about 75% who come out and can go on leading a ‘normal’ life.

All the fundraising that Woza Moya and the HACT raise, goes towards the running of this.

Photography: Francis the king of the Upcycling Container and Glass Cutting Supremo Frank

In the Woza Moya upcycling centre, there was bright light streaming into the container that Francis is king of! This makes photographing quite difficult because of the extreme exposure values. Therefore, we had to position ourselves in a way that we weren’t picking up the super bright sunlit areas we knew would just blow out. In contrast, in the room of glass bottle supremo Frank, it was quite dark and small. To overcome this, we had to up the ISO on our cameras, as we were handholding and he was moving. Thankfully, the low light ability of digital SLRs now is exceptionally good. The little bit of grain you do get is easily removable in a Camera Raw converter or Photoshop. We both actually find, that a little bit of grain adds to the organic-ness, look and feel of an image.

Cut bottles to upcycle at Hillcrest AIDS Centre

We spent quite a while being shown around Woza Moya and photographing, but no images can do justice to the incredible work that the Woza Moya team are doing. As you can see, all the wonderful people involved in HACT and Woza Moya have a passion: a passion to empower and uplift those who have been affected in many ways by HIV / AIDS.

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Woza Moya. It just rolls sweetly off the tongue and means “Come spirt of change” in isiZulu. (IsiZulu is the language of the Zulu South Africans usually living on the East side of South Africa).

So what is Woza Moya?

It is lifeline of support and hope to hundreds, (thousands if you include their dependents), of otherwise desperate people whilst masquerading as a beautiful little craft shop. Although specialising in traditional beadwork they also sell all types of African art and craft from painting, sewing, wirework, crochet, pottery, fabric painting and woodwork through to repurposing and upcycling waste to make beautiful products.

Ally browsing in the Craft Shop

A few of the many hand-made products

Dark Times in Modern South Africa

Why is it so important to so many people? Well at the end of the last century HIV/AIDS was rife in South Africa. It was a taboo subject that nobody would talk about and there was almost no access to anti-viral drugs. People were dying in their thousands. Children were left without parents and only a few lucky ones had grandparents to look after them. A very dark time for all modern South Africa.

Woza Moya creates jobs and income for so many HIV/AIDS sufferers as well as fundraising for the AIDS Centre, and brings hope to them and their dependents. The beaders work from home, buying supplies at cost from Woza Moya, and create beautiful beaded craft items. They then bring these products to the Hillcrest AIDS Centre once a week to be sold on in the Woza Moya craft shops, with a small mark-up. It empowers them to earn a living from crafts they make.

Paula and Zandi – always really helpful and friendly

Colourful Zulu Skills and Photography

In this post we’re going to concentrate on the craft shops. Not far from Durban there are three – Hillcrest, Botha’s Hill and Kloof. We met Paula who is the manager of the centre and she allowed us to take photographs throughout our visit. Lungile took the time to show us around and explain it all to us. The indoor photography was very simple from a technical point of view. The only issues that you might come across in these situations is the bright sunlight streaming through windows. The easiest thing to do is to avoid it or shoot multiple exposures and comp them together. See our post on Exposure Compensation for more details. But back to the more important part of this post. The people, their skills and passion, and desire for a better future.

Lungile – who showed us around

We’d like to tell you more about the incredible beading. Beading is a traditional Zulu skill passed down through generations. It’s normally threaded onto cotton or wire to make the most amazing products from tiny little badges through to Africa’s first fully beaded suit! In Cape Town last year, we even saw a fully covered beaded military vehicle!!

Beautiful beaded bracelets

The Dream Chair

In 2009 the Woza Moya crafters attended a body mapping workshop where it was found that due to having lived in poverty for so long, very few of them had dreams. They were encouraged to ‘bead their dreams’. With the pieces that were received, the ‘Dream Chair’ came to life. The dream chair journeyed around the world and a book was made of people dreaming their dreams, which is for sale by the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust.

Dreams for Africa Chair – Image courtesy of Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust

Paula Thomson – Executive Manager and Craft Co-ordinator of Woza Moya

Little Travellers

The trademark item of Woza Moya is the Little Traveller. They were the brainchild of Thandiwe, one of the original patients from the Hillcrest AIDS centre. These tiny people can magically attach themselves to people’s clothing and travel across the world! Well maybe not magically attach, but you can pin them on but that doesn’t sound so cool! They come with their own passport (that you can log journeys on via the Facebook page), and a charm that is irresistible. Each crafter who makes the Little Traveller, gives each doll its own character. Ally wears hers with pride.

The Little Travellers

Volunteers and Paid Workers sorting the Little Travellers for export

Thandiwe – Mother of the Little Travellers, who sadly passed away but whose legacy lives on

Don’t Miss the Love

Although we had travelled past the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust / Woza Moya several times, it’s easily missed, despite the huge giraffes who are a bit hidden by trees, but once we went into the grounds we were hit with the enormity of the incredible industriousness, love and passion that this project holds, that’s hidden behind an unassuming entrance.

Where to find Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust / Woza Moya

See our Woza Moya part 2 post.

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Lokrum Island from Dubrovnik wall look out post

Lokrum Island from Dubrovnik Old City Wall

There are quite a few unique features to photograph on Lokrum, so long as you don’t mind walking. The monastery is interesting, but it’s so beautifully kept with perfectly manicured lawn, peacocks and rabbits, that it loses the whole feel of “ruin”. You can’t go in anywhere – all doors were locked when we visited and it looked like there was some restoration work being carried out.

Attention Game of Thrones fans … as most GoT fans know, a lot of filming is done in Dubrovnik, and around the corner of the Monastery, there is a small door which leads to a section with lots of videos of interviews with actors from the show, behind the scenes footage and … drumroll … a replica Iron Throne … which you can sit on.

We found the two main areas to photograph were the Dead Sea and “Rocks”. The Dead Sea, is a small pool, which is a very interesting shade of bluey-green. If you are photographing at midday, as we were, the lighting is very harsh – half is in sunlight and half is in shade – so we stuck to photographing the cave area which was in shadow.

Online, Tim had seen a picture of an area called “Rocks” which showed an archway in the rock opening up to the sea, and he felt sure that we could create a better image. We nearly missed this because it’s quite well hidden, but when we finally found it, it was stunning. (Wear sensible shoes for this – lots of clambering over rocks). Once again, shooting at the time we were there, meant very harsh lighting. (Unfortunately, you can’t stay towards sunset, because the last boat in October goes back at 16:00 to the mainland). So, we’re back to the same problem of harsh light and dark shadows. We can get around this to a certain degree, because we’re shooting RAW and can pull a lot of detail from the shadow and highlight areas. During these situations, we tend to bracket our pictures. This means shooting a normal exposure then a number of stops under and over – (number of stops depends on the harshness of the light and most DSLRs and mirrorless cameras have a bracketing function). This then enables us to copy details from one image into another, that are too extreme for the sensor to record. One can also use various pieces of software to put the images together as an HDR image but be careful using this as it has a tendency to look “overcooked”.

Again, as we were hobbling our way around the island with our very stiff legs from the previous days, we were heading to the Fort Royal. This comes after a long walk along the “Path of Paradise” … sadly anything but a path of paradise haha, as it’s all up a very … long … hill. But it is worth the climb. Once in the Fort Royal you get an awesome view over the city. The Fort is also an interesting structure to photograph.

Just don’t miss the last boat back!

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Dubrovnik City Roofs with beautiful colours and textures

Our day on the city walls was slightly overcast with a tiny bit of blue sky. Initially this might seem a bit of a downer but in fact it made making images a lot easier because we didn’t have to worry about bright sunlight and harsh shadows. Of course, sometimes hard light can give you beautiful textures on walls, but we’ve compensated for this in post-production by intensifying the micro-contrast in RAW, known as Clarity.

Dubrovnik City Walls from Fort Lovrijenac

Starting from the Pile Gate entrance (pronounced Peelar and is the main entrance to the Old City) , we walked up and even though we’d spent a few days looking at the buildings, it was jaw-droppingly spectacular from this new angle. There is just so much to photograph, but you need to be aware every time you make a new image, of your composition, because it’s so easy to get distracted by the beautiful architecture and then you just end up recording the scene. The first half is undoubtedly the best. Being able to look down onto “King’s Landing Harbour” with part of the wall in the foreground, adding depth to the scene produces some spectacular images.

Dubrovnik City Walls

There are a number of cafés and toilets along the top where you can stop for ice creams and coffees etc. We really enjoyed photographing the oubliettes and produced some incredibly interesting and surreal images from these. For a slightly different view, so you don’t keep getting the wall in your shots, Tim ended up holding the camera high above his head, having first focussed and checked exposure, using the angled viewing screen on his Sony to compose the shot. This works particularly well on Tim’s Sony with an adjustable back screen, but is a bit more hit and miss with my fixed screen Nikon.

Using the swivel screen for a higher vantage point 

This is quite difficult because of the bright light and would have been worse had it been sunny. NB: A lot of mirrorless and DSLR cameras have the ability to transmit the live image to an iPhone or iPad and this can be useful in these sort of situations, where one of you photographs and the other directs from the tablet screen.

On one afternoon as we were sitting for a rest, just outside the Pile Gate, Tim thought he’d drop his Zeiss lens onto concrete. It rolled into a gutter of the same diameter, narrowly missing falling through the gutter and out the other side and plummeting down 2 storeys. Phew!

Pile Gate

Cable Car

Some great images can be recorded from the top of the mountain, looking down onto the Old City. To do this, you need a trip up in the cable car. Sadly we did this on the only day it rained. But as it was our last day, we still managed a romantic meal in the Panorama restaurant looking down over the town as the lights came on and illuminated it all. Romance 8. Photography 1!

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Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow! Turns out that having walked up and down several hundred steps in the Dubrovnik Old City, produces this unique sound the following day, and the following …

Why Dubrovnik Old City?

There are so many amazing places to go to, to create images. And Dubrovnik Old City is one of those. Architecture, scenery and landscape, all in one place. You couldn’t ask for more.

Dubrovnik Old City, from Fort Lovrijenac

What we first found

As we hobbled our way around the city with major pain in our legs, we found stunning views, awesome ancient architecture with a fairy-tale feel about it, azure skies, inviting looking Adriatic Sea, alley-ways that were just calling out to be photographed, and lots of really interesting doors (yes, really doors! You can find amazing images in almost anything!)

We were there the end of October to the beginning of November and it was still sunny, with temperatures reaching about 20 degrees, although cooling right off in the afternoon and evening. From a photography point of view, it was a haze free environment and litter-free as well as having less tourists than peak season.

Inside the City Walls, the floors are marble

Inside the City Walls

One of the things we found most interesting were the alley-ways and steps. These can make for quite contrasty images but on the days when it was slightly more overcast than others, this helped our situation. Photographs down alleys are always very difficult to do as they can be quite dark, and if the sun is streaming in to the upper parts, it creates a very contrasty photographic situation. We try to get around this problem, by using backlight on an interesting feature, or by bracketing.

 

“Secret” shooting spot!

After the confines of the city wall, we made our escape up the hill and found the most amazing ‘secret shooting spot’! If you walk straight on out of the Pile Gate a short distance, past the Fort and a couple of supermarkets you will come to a restaurant called Sesame. Turn left in front of this and follow the path and keep going up. You’ll end up in a car park – not very exciting we hear you cry – but don’t fear. At the end of this car park, you will be able to get to the edge of the cliffs, walk down and find some outcrops that will allow you to photograph both the Fort and part of the city walls, which turn an absolutely glorious orange as the sun dips down to your right. If you’re shooting towards evening, then a tripod would be helpful, but there are plenty of rocks to steady your camera on. Wear sensible shoes, and be very careful, as one wrong footstep could end up with a sudden death drop into the ocean.

 

From the secret parking lot spot

Night-time Photography

As we try and travel super-light most of the time, we don’t always travel with a tripod, so we tend to use objects to keep the camera steady.

Dubrovnik Fort Lovrijenac and harbour at night

On this occasion, we used the wall overlooking the edge of the city wall and the fort (Game of Thrones, Kings’ Landing harbour!) If you wish to get movement of the water, you need a long exposure 4-5 seconds at least.  An ND (neutral density) filter will give you much longer exposures giving you awesome results.

Dubrovnik Couple at Night

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