Social Hallucinations: Photography

There are some moments in your life that strike you hard and make you rethink everything you’ve done so far. I had such a moment during my trip to South Africa when I’ve visited a few townships.

Townships were and still are areas reserved for non-whites. One of the townships I visited was Khayelitsha close to Cape Town. Khayelitsha means “New Home” and is a mix of old and new, formal and informal and affluent and poor. There are housing projects which are continuously on the go, to alleviate the housing problems, but shacks are continuously being erected by the steady stream of people arriving from the Eastern Cape.

Khayelitsha is the home for around 2 million people, but no one is really counting. Majority of people is living in terrible conditions: shacks with holed roofs, no toilets, no water facilities. There are people everywhere. Small streets are stacked with shacks, bricked government houses, small bars and shops. Coca - Cola signs are everywhere as well as smiling and playful children. I was walking through Khayelitsha surrounded by wonderful kids, who loved being photographed. They modeled, took funny poses, from cute to gangster cool. I’ve been to small kindergartens where grown-ups struggled to ensure roof isn’t leaking and get some mattresses for children to sleep. I’ve talked to neglected children, children with AIDS who starved for human contact and attention. Looking into their eyes, I’ve seen so many sad stories. The time I spent playing with them was one of the most wonderful moments in my life.

I’ve hear lot of wonderful stories about how people love “New Home” and they would never move from there. I could sense the powerful community that did their best to turn the area into save homes.

Then I’ve met a lot of young men who had no job, were just sitting around in their clean and neat Nike outfits, drinking beers, playing pool and having high expectations of other people to give them money...Sad and not constructive at all.

I do believe the education is the way to start the change and the evolution. I wouldn’t want the people to move from the area and lose the strong sense of the community they have. The kids just need a good care, love and education that will give them a better start and opportunity to make something out of their lives and pull them away from the streets and away from the influence of bad role models.

Change can also start with small steps. Small adjustments and improvements. And I would like to help that change on its way. Those kids and people let me in into their lives with my camera and I took wonderful pictures and I’d like to thank them for this and give them something in return - help them improve their kindergartens, make them safer and more educative. I would like you to join me. If you like the pictures and feel like helping those kids, please donate any amount. Anything will help and make a difference and help to make kindergartens better. I will keep you posted with the developments as well as you will receive the picture of your choice in high resolution.