Strike

A striking worker shows his frustration during a strike at Caxton printers in Johannesburg.

Today whilst attending a strike at Caxton Printers, the printers that print The Citizen newspaper (which I currently work for), I was approached by one of the printer management, who said I must get pictures of all the strikers with knobkerries ( zulu wooden clubs), His approach towards me was as if it was "us and them" and I sure was'nt in either of those groups.

I told him he must be insane, asking me to do that and told him that there was no chance that I would, if he wanted pics like that- he could take them himself, I SURE AS HELL WASN'T.

If photojournalists gave pics that could be used to prosecute people, people at demonstrations would attack photojournalists as soon as they whipped out their camera, and I sure as hell dont want that to happen .

Khutsong @ the Con Court

A protester from Khutsong threatens with a knife during a protest outside the Constitutional court in Johannesburg. The court is to decide if Khutsong will be moved back to the economically superior province of Gauteng from the poorer North West province.
I've been to quite a few protests, but this is the first time I've been physically threatened. I dont know what this guys problem with me was, but he followed me around for a bit after this, still swiping at me, that was when I thought it might be a good idea to move to another spot, and did. Protests with the people from Khutsong have a certain feel in the air, like all hell could break loose any second- a feeling I dont get with any other groups of protesters.

Anyway, got a decent shot and will probably be there again tomorrow :)

Eden Park RDP

First time homeowner, 72-year-old Edith Sonhlahla in front of her new RDP house in Edenpark, Ekurhuleni.On the other hand, I recently attended a function in Eden Park, near Thokoza in Ekurhuleni, where a group of pensioners were given their RDP houses, they aged from 71 to 90 years old, most of whom have never owned a house. So, at least some people are getting the houses promised by the government, but there is still a huge problem with backlogs and corruption, until something drastic is done, more and bigger protests will break out over this issue.

Alexandra RDP

A group of mostly pensioners that barricaded a road in Alexandra with burning wood, bricks and tyres stand defiantly. They are protesting about the slow delivery of RDP houses. The houses had been promised to them since 1996.
These people have illegally occupied some of these houses because they say that, even though they have the correct paperwork and have been waiting eleven years, people that pay bribes to councillors jump the queue and they are refusing to stand for it any more. Speaking to these people, I find they are rightfully very angry, but unfortunatly this is the way it works in SA, MONEY TALKS.
Corruption, nepotism and racism is still rife.

Swan Lake

The dress rehearsal of Swan Lake at the Civic Theatre in Braamfontein. This classic ballet runs from the 24 Aug to 16 September 07.Shooting Ballet is a bit of a tricky at first, especially with the low light, so I bumped my D200 up to iso 800, set it to 160 at f2.8, and hoped for the best :) .

No , seriously, it was actually awesome, the subject really lends itself to being photographed and I'm sure looking forward to shooting some more ballet in the future.