肆客足球

??The power of visual storytelling was on full display at the recent opening of an exhibition at Stellenbosch 肆客足球 (SU) that affords the public access to a unique collection of work by one of South Africa's most acclaimed photographers. The exhibition An End to Waiting, featuring photographs by the renowned Paul Weinberg, was unveiled at the SU Museum on 30 April. Marking 30 years of democracy in South Africa, the exhibition includes iconic images of the country's first democratic election in 1994.

In 1994, Weinberg headed a team of photographers who recorded the activities of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), who had been tasked with staging the election. In 1995, their photographs were published in the book An End to Waiting: South Africa's first democratic elections and have since been held in the IEC's archives. The SU exhibition showcases a selection of these pictures. The title An End to Waiting not only refers to the literal waiting in long lines outside the voting stations, but also symbolises the broader societal expectation of freedom and justice at the time.

Reflecting on the “moment of rupture"

Guests at the opening event also listened to an insightful dialogue between Weinberg and Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, incumbent of SU's Chair in Historical Trauma and Transformation. Opening the discussion, Dr Marietjie Oelofsen, manager of the dialogues programme at the SU Museum, reflected on the transformative power of photography. “These photographs by Paul Weinberg indeed represent an end to waiting – an end to waiting for what had to be said in the dark to be heard in the light; for what was forced to be whispered behind closed doors to be proclaimed from the rooftops," Oelofsen said. “The small, dark room of apartheid burst open in 1994. It is now our work to look back at that moment of rupture. And to think what it means 30 years later."

This set the stage for a deeper exploration of the historical significance of the events recorded through Weinberg's lens. In the dialogue that followed, he described the intensely emotional experience of capturing the anticipation of a nation on the brink of monumental change.

Taking sides

At the outset, Weinberg clarified his view of objectivity in photojournalism. “There was no such thing as being objective in the situation I found myself in during the turbulent 1980s. How can one really be objective when you've seen somebody in a blue uniform with a rifle, pointing it at a crowd? You just have to take sides," he said. Weinberg became part of a generation of photographers who called themselves the “taking sides" generation. “We unashamedly took the side of the oppressed people and the resistance against apartheid."

Engaging Weinberg in a discussion about the impact of his photographs, Gobodo-Madikizela highlighted that the individual images not only told personal stories, but also documented a nation's transformation. In this regard, Weinberg referred to a picture of a little black girl standing next to her mother at the ballot box, looking up at the photographer's lens. The camera captured her wide-eyed expression at the exact moment of her mother casting her vote for the first time. “She [the child] looked up at me with expectation and hope," Weinberg remembered. “In a way, she represented the hope of a nation, the hope of the country."

To Weinberg, the word that captured South Africa in 1994 was 'suspension'. “It was a suspension that allowed us, as South Africans, to look at the past and acknowledge it, but simultaneously look at the future," he said. “And, you know, it did bring about such incredible peace within all of us. People talk about miracles. For me, one of the miracles of that moment was the fact that we were able to put behind us a really brutal system and give birth to what we'd hoped and still hope for – a system that centres humanism right in the frame."

Capturing Madiba

Reflecting on the country's peaceful transition to democracy, Weinberg described it as an extraordinary time. “We never thought that the National Party and the white supremacists of the time would hand over power to the people of South Africa. That was extraordinary. I was honoured to have witnessed it in such close proximity," he said. “When I worked with the IEC, there were white tannies [aunties] who worked at Home Affairs, rubbing shoulders with young radicals and human rights lawyers. We were all working in the same direction. It was like being in the Springbok team in 2023 winning the World Cup. It was incredible."

A personal highlight of the country's first democratic election was being the only photographer who captured the historic moment when former President Nelson Mandela cast his vote. To great amusement of the audience, Weinberg relayed how he had almost missed the moment due to an eager election commissioner who wanted to be photographed with Madiba. Luckily, Weinberg captured the moment with just the commissioner's hand in the frame.