It’s hard to believe it’s already October and it’s been over a year since I last visited Cape Town and South Africa. This is the longest I’ve been away from South Africa, but I will be returning in November 2018. I was last in Cape Town in February 2017 for a project that I couldn’t share at the time.
In September of 2016, I was contacted about the possibility of the project with an organization visiting Cape Town from Europe. As these things go, a lot of emails were sent back and forth, a site visit took place and the next thing we knew we were working with an Internationally well-known beauty company from Germany. The scope of the work from our end changed from a presentation in Cape Town to an exhibition and visit to Khayelitsha.
The company turned out to be La Roche-Posay and Vichy, a division of L’oreal and the exhibition theme was Strong Women of Cape Town. For some time in November and December, several of the mobile photographers photographed women from their neighbourhood in Makhaza in Khayelitsha. Nwabisa, Thando, Nomfundo, and Amanda photographed 16 women that showcased what it meant to be a strong woman in Cape Town. Representatives of the company chose 7 photos from images that were produced. They were printed on canvas and were on display at eKhaya eKasi.
Vichy and La Roche Posay were in town to launch new beauty products, and they brought along about 30 journalists from Germany to not only learn about the products but to also learn about some of the strong women of Cape Town, first-hand. For two hours, they looked at the photographs and discussed life in Khayelitsha. The photographers answered questions and talked about the meaning behind the images and the importance of grandmothers in African families. The journalists were moved and inspired by the conversation and beautiful photographs.
Postcards were given to each of the journalists that visited and to the photographers as well. The canvas prints were also given to eKhaya eKasi so they could display their work. A huge thanks to all involved that made this possible from the team in Cape Town to the team in Germany. The women in the photographed earned about a day’s salary for about 30 minutes of work, the photographers earned about a week’s wages for about a few hours worth of work and the project coordinator earned about a month’s salary for about a few days of work.
