Previously I posted a couple of pictures from Cape Town,
South Africa. It was more a photography posting than one about social life,
as I had pushed the limits of the 100 ASA film in taking contre-jour pictures with
vintage cameras. Here is that link:
Upon revisiting the question of street photography in Cape
Town, I chose to show more of its social dynamic.
Cape Town is at the junction of two oceans -- the Indian and
Atlantic oceans. The warm waters of the
former meet the cold waves of the Atlantic at Cape Point, an hour’s drive from
Cape Town. Cape Town is surrounded by pristine beaches upon which multi-million
dollar houses hang, sometimes with a seeming serendipity. The most picturesque beach is Boulder’s Beach
in Simon’s Town. Given its location,
this beach is sheltered from the ocean winds and home to a breeding colony of
over 2000 endangered African Penguins. I did not expect penguins in Africa, but
these flightless and small penguins are quite unique. The first surprise is to hear their call: it
is like a donkey’s call, and historically these Penguins were called “Jackass”
Penguin! When I learned about this I
thought about the desert hare in the U.S Southwest that are still called “jackrabbits”
given their donkey-like ears…
Here is the beach from a distance:
And the African Penguin close -up.
The social diversity in Cape Town is rich in arts, modes of
expression, clothing, and food. The Atlantic Seaboard has some of the most
expensive real estate in South Africa, especially in the area of Camps Bay
where one finds the most high-priced mansions in South Africa. In 2014 a residential
unit in Camps Bay was valued to around 2 million $US. In contrast, The Southern
Suburbs, along the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, is more cosmopolitan. English and Afrikaans are spoken there and one
can find a spectrum of culinary sophistication. Indeed, the Constantia area,
within the City of Cape Town, is a wine-growing region with some exquisite local
wines: the taste of the Petite Sirah I tried there is still vivid in my taste
bud memory! But one can also find more “down-to-earth”
food with some asking. Here is the meat selection in a small eatery: the game
meat (Kudu, Eland and Warthog) were imported from nearby Zimbabwe. Note the "Vegetable Stirfry" for those who want to stay away from Warthog and African elk....!
But Cape Town is primarily a fishing “big village”. Small fishing boats come to the harbor around
noon and sell their fish to the highest bidder in a popular fish market. This
fisherman had experienced a lot of the ocean winds in his old boat!
And here is the fish market: most of the fish was sold
within 30 minutes.
… There is very sparse history about the region’s original
residents. The first mention of the Cape
Town area was by the Portuguese explorer Bartolommeo Dias in 1486. Most of us
in the West know about the recorded sighting of the Cape of Good Hope by Vasco
da Gama in 1497. Given the importance of this sighting for maritime commerce
across and between the two oceans, the Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, French and
English ships established trade routes to the Indies in the 1600’s passing by
Cape Town and dropping anchor in Table Bay.
I did not focus on taking pictures of buildings and edifices
representing the passage of colonial cultures.
Instead, I wanted one picture that represents the city, some of its
social profile, and away from the millionaires’ mansions. So I chose this one.
October 3, 2015
© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2015
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