“the other south.”
Tzotzies
Playing in the squatter camp
Laughing, and tumbling like
Empty cans and chip packets
Watching the people and the gossip
Flowing generously
As the promised water would if
It could
As free as the air
Wrapped in time together
And the minutes are sweet.
Obey the Sign
Stop smiling and yield
As stubborn as you are
This is one of those times.
Up and Up
(leaving nothing we can hold on to
without paying the price).
Break from your rapture and
remember:
In the beginning was The Word
Today – the New Storyteller
See ye see ye: The writing’s on the
wall.
Shabeen
It’s the middle of the day
You have bills. Yet
Drink in hand you sit
with your lime and lemon joy.
Looking all around you
Where there’s nothing left but
Place.
We’re stuck here in this void
Of Fermentation
And the enemy’s invisible to
both of us.
Washer Woman
Lady in white displays her skills
See how lovely
For so little
Your clothes could look this good
Washer Woman
Lady in white displays her skills
See how lovely
For so little
Your clothes could look this good
Slap Chips
Friends, food and
Hey! A camera after my
Sole.
Tyres
What do you have to become?
What do you think you need to be?
I don’t think you thought
About it properly-
The real meaning of immortality.
Oxford Road
Alternatively
We could go for
coffee.
Young Girl
Finding joy is the art of children
Like hearing music
That is not there.
The Protector
On his shack the scarecrow
Grins
And whom, may I ask,
Are you scaring away this time?
Three Brothers
Brothers, we never went nowhere
Never needed to either!
Belly shouts shake laugh lines deeper
Before you the bearing of true masters,
mister!
Clothes Line
On the field their dreams
Are filled
With roaring crowds
The colours over bright
The dreams die out
When the whistle blows
But sell up again.
You should’ve seen me bro!
Next time.
Billboard
We scrub. And rising from the
washtub of Reality
Where cultural myths soak every Age
Pretty multihued bubbles on the wind.
“the other south”
Spending time in South Africa renews my soul. I observe a country in flux and rebirth. Attempting to gain understanding of South Africa’s diverse and changing cultures is a monumental task.
I became both a photographer and an encaustic artist about ten years ago, and as I care profoundly for the country where I was born, I have chosen to document many aspects of daily life in South Africa. Hidden within South Africa’s many cultures and multiple geographies lie a photographer’s dream.
The photographs are produced in my own darkroom and are Silver Gelatin Prints.
The viewer is encouraged to imagine a story from each image with particular attention on the emotions triggered by images. Perhaps the poetry provides clues to other perspectives too?
Lesley Ann Price
Poetry by Alicia Thomas Woolf
gallery.
