Jun 28 2013

B&W Photo Challenge: Neighbourhood


This is the 2nd week of Sonel’s Black and White Weekly Photo Challenge and the Theme is : Neighbourhood.

As many of you know, my home in South Africa is right on the coast, and just a few metres down our driveway, is the beach and the Indian Ocean. It’s a really lovely beach with golden sand and not too many people.

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The cargo ships waiting to offload their goods at Durban harbour can often be anchored just off shore for days.

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It’s lovely just to take a book and a chair down to the beach and spend a few hours reading or just watching the waves.

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Of course the red and white lighthouse is one of my favourite landmarks.

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Just down the road is the shopping mall where I play piano for a few hours each week.

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Out in the car park there are two musicians who have played their music here for many years. This is their only source of income, so people give generously.

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Many people here use the minibus taxis to get around, as there is no other public transport. The legend on this one always makes me think,

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that there are many folk living here, who aren’t in such fortunate circumstances as I find myself. My last pic shows one of the many ‘squatter camps’, or as our government prefers to call them ‘informal settlements’ which are springing up anywhere that homeless people can find a piece of land on which to erect their shacks.

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So my neighbourhood might be fun in the sun for many people, but certainly not for everyone.

90 comments on “B&W Photo Challenge: Neighbourhood”

  1. Pingback: An update on the Black and White Weekly Photo Challenge | Sonel's Corner

  2. The most is so very thorough in that you showcased two sides to your neighborhood. Unfortunately, it is never perfect anywhere.
    Looks like I was a lot more behind then I had thought in my visits here. I’m glad
    I was able to do it today. I’ve enjoyed a great many fabulous posts. Thanks …

  4. Beautiful photos Sylvia, even of the gritty side of town. Sadly life isn’t pretty for the poor anywhere in the world.

  6. A wonderful collection showing the beauty of the area but a gentle reminder that not everyone has it easy. It’s important to remember all the people who live in our cities.

  7. Your immediate neighborhood looks like paradise. In the Philippines, there are a lot of informal settlers (yes, that is how we call them now too. I guess the term sounds nicer). In Metro Manila, the shacks exist side by side the tonier buildings. Often, they are built on sidewalks. It is a little sad that they could not be relocated to better living spaces, on the one hand, and that they are being mined for votes, on the other.

    • Thanks, Imelda. Yes I agree with you that these poor people deserve far more dignity. The politicians woo them with promises of a better life, but does it come to pass?

  8. Such a fabulous neighbourhood. And I think it’s so important that you show us that there is a backside to it as well.

  10. this is such a beautiful post! ilove the photo of the lovely artist at the piano, who shares her gift, and then the photo of the two men outside and the story of how generous the people are to them.

    life presents such contrasts, and you did a great job with this black and white presentation of your neighborhood!

  12. I have been studying your photos over the past months because each one has a profound story. You seem to recognize the nuances instinctively i.e. the piano and then the two musicians, the bridge and then then hills. It is a pleasure to view them. 🙂

  13. Hi AD, your B&W shots of your neighbourhood really make one focus on the image and consider the details more somehow . Shadows and shapes, footprints in sand, and those musicians’ expressions . Great selection – works well .
    You show the other side AD aswell , we too were staggered by the poverty in the camps we saw around Cape Town and elsewhere . We did our best to support local markets and so on whilst there and I know you too get involved with your neighbourhood 🙂

    • Thanks, Poppy. Yes I’m afraid nothing has changed for the majority of people here, except a few have become fabulously wealthy, whilst the poor have moved from the rural areas to these horrid shack dwellings just outside the cities, in the hope of finding work. Their votes do come in very useful at election time, but they’re really just voting for promises which will be unfulfilled. So sad.

      Thanks for the Pinch &Punch. I got hubby and son in New York. 😀 Makes a change, because they usually get me first.

  16. I think this is the first time I see your pictures in black and white :). Nice, and it is so good to see you playing Sylvia 🙂

    • Thanks, Phil. I’m glad all your pics are in colour though. 🙂 I don’t think GBH’s and ‘gators would look as amazing in B&W. 😀

  23. Thanks for tagging on to my site. My words are traveling more than I am 🙂
    Safe travels when you wander.
    Wonderful photos. Perhaps…inspirational 😉
    I will bookmark your place so I can return.

  24. The B & W does nothing to detract from the splendour of the suckheap we live in AD 😉
    You should bring the outside muso’s in one day to play with you while you’re playing the piano – looks like you guys can be a good band 🙂

  27. Love your red and white lighthouse, Ad. The story works beautifully in black and white. I too love those old guys sitting playing. The character in their faces. They obviously love what they do. 🙂
    Sad about the slum dwellings. There’s so much that’s wrong with our world, Ad.

  28. To see your photos in black and white certainly makes them impressive and thought provoking 🙂

  29. These are such a good set of photos depicting South Africa… forget they are in B&W, they are a good cross section of life here… the B&W just makes them more beautiful…

  35. Absolutely stunning Black and White shots AD! Love the lighthouse and my favourite is of course seeing you in front of the piano. 😀
    Thanks so much for taking part and sharing these beauties! What a great neighbourhood indeed hon! 😀 *big hugs*

  39. It’s like a friend once said “everywhere can be beautiful when you have money “… naturally if you can afford to hire a car you’ll probably manage to see more places and for longer than if you had to catch 3 busses to get to the same tourist spot, the less of a budget you have the less you have to search for accommodation etc.

    Every single country in the world has a darker side of the coin, the people struggling on the poverty line are not the people featured in the tourist brochures.

    It’s a balance between meeting your own families needs and also those of others when you can… I like the fact that people know that the old gents have no other income and give generously…

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