Quiet Strength

by Nathan Clendenin on February 10th, 2006

I worked with sister Margaret today. As I hoped, she needed to spend time at the hospice (instead of in the office building). I am impressed with her quiet strength, which she displays through leadership of her staff and caring for the patients with grace. I photographed her working for awhile, and did an audio interview. She spoke to me in English, unlike many of the other interviews. However, I will likely still have a voiceover for her because the room was unavoidably noisy (a constant beeping in the background and patients moaning a bit). Plus that will remain consistent with the other stories. I didn’t have to ask but one question to get all the information I wanted to cover. I photographed her working with patients a bit more, and she reminded me of the ones we had visited earlier in the week that were now here. One of the patients, a man with HIV who had an usuable arm due to a stroke, look much much better in the hospice. Another woman, looked worse. Margaret started to ask me what else I wanted, at which point I realized it was time to leave. I didn’t feel unwelcome, but she started to do things for me just so I could photograph, and so I stopped. There wasn’t much else to photograph anyway, otherwise I would have attempted to explain that I couldn’t photograph posed events. Instead I dropped it and started wrapping up. We had a nice goodbye and I could tell she was happy to have worked with me.

Uncle’s Orphans

by Nathan Clendenin on February 9th, 2006

I went back to visit the Uncle Orphans today. I hoped they would get used to my cameras and stop posing for me, but alas such was not the case (as Vincent predicted). Even after two hours, most of the children were still posing for me and fighting for my attention. I made some nice shots though, of the portrait variety. Instead of getting discouraged, which I started to feel, I decided the only way to tell this story is to call it something like “Portraits of Poverty”. I don’t know if it will end up in the final product, as the link to AIDS is uncertain. But the link to poverty is so strong. I’ll have to see what Pat thinks. It makes a nice fifth story, one that is a little different as a series of portraits.

Another Sick Day

by Nathan Clendenin on February 8th, 2006

Still feeling a bit sick, but getting better. Worked half a day today, meeting with Granny for a bit.

Upon further reflection, I think that the four day break I took during my first trip, to go to Capetown, was a very good idea. Working under such demanding conditions physically and emotionally, I am only good for about a week, then I start losing focus, get easily frustrated, etc. By the end of the second trip, I couldn’t even think straight enough to remember what shots I had gotten and what I needed, despite my attempt to take notes and record my thoughts.
-Added 4/16/06

Under the Weather

by Nathan Clendenin on February 7th, 2006

I am under the weather today. I also need to send some photos to Pat Davison to have him review along with some other errands so I’m going to take it easy today. It’s also been raining profusely the past few days, which his highly unusual for here, even in the rainy season.

A Day with Granny

by Nathan Clendenin on February 3rd, 2006

I worked mainly with Granny today at the house. I felt a bit awkward at first, esp. with the older children like Kate and Mongese. But I decided to just sit with them for awhile, not taking pictures, to allow them to get used to me. One of the babies also took a while to stop crying when he saw me. I didn’t have much of an idea about what shots to take except that I needed interaction with Granny and the kids. I asked God to help me see that story how He sees it. All the children, except Given the oldest grandson, were home and interacting with Granny quite a lot. Many other children from around the neighborhood came by also and I struggled with how to answer them about my project. I didn’t want to reveal anything about HIV for fear of stigmatizing the family, but at the same time I don’t want to be dishonest or perpetuating the silence about the disease. I ended up telling them I was doing a project on people in Mamelodi. Mostly these children and other curious passersby just wanted their photo taken, which I did happily.

Kruger National Park

by Nathan Clendenin on August 14th, 2005

On Friday we (Vincent and family) hopped in the donkey (the affectionate term for the rental car) and headed north for Kruger National Park, home to many wild animals including the “Big Five”. On the way we saw some beautiful sites including a natural bridge and a wonderful view of the mountains called “God’s Window.” We spent the night about 50 km from the park and got up early on Saturday to hit the park when the animals were out and about. From the car we saw some amazing animals including: lions, hippos, giraffes, zebras, buffalo (quite different looking here), monkeys, baboons, warthogs, jackals, antelope, wildebeests, and most definitely some elephants. We actually got into a high speed chase with the elephant you see above; apparently the donkey upset him and since they never forget anything, we didn’t come back that way!
Vincent, his wife Gloria, and daughter Busi were packed in the car with my gear. It was quite a long day, especially with a 4-hour drive to get back to Mamelodi. But it was well worth it, to say the least. Now that I’ve gotten most of the playing out of the way, I am very anxious to get started on the remaining thesis work. In 5 days Vincent and I will photograph and interview a grandmother and the orphan children of her two deceased daughters, the gravedigger and more funerals, a woman valiantly living with AIDS, a prostitute and anything else that comes up. Like Vincent says about services at his church, “We plan, but sometimes God steps in.” I am expecting a great (and busy) week.

Originally Posted on Vicarious Summer Blog

Capetown

by Nathan Clendenin on August 10th, 2005

On Tuesday Will and I explored Capetown with a hike up Lion’s Head, one of the smaller peaks that lines the oceanfront. We had wonderful blue sky weather with just a little chill. Even though we’re at the southernmost part of the southern hemisphere in winter, it’s not that cold. After snapping some shots of Table Mountain and the 12 apostles (sort of like Mt. Rushmore but natural) we drove south toward Cape Point along a beautiful highway that had us wedged between steep cliffs on the left and blue waters on the right. We ended up missing the entrance time to the park that leads to the Cape (5pm) and instead checked out some penguins then headed to a small town where we had a really great seafood dinner and Guinness. We got home late after a stop at another lookout to take some night shots of the city from above.

At 5:15am today we got up for our shark cage diving excursion. They picked us up at our door and drove us all the way to the small bay about 2 1/5 hours away. The fed us and then we boarded “The Baracuda” for a 20 minute ride out the Shark Alley. The minute the anchor was set down we spotted a Great White circling our boat. The captain gave us a quick briefing and we suited up to get into the cage alongside the boat. We would sit in the rather chilly water until the captain told us, “Down, Down,” and we’d take a breath and go under to view the beautiful animals going for the bait they had out in front of us. At one point I was face to face with a shark with only about 2 feet in between us. It was a great experience, and another day of beautiful weather. I did spew in the water from motion sickness but felt just fine after that. Many on the boat had to leave early, due to sickness, on a dinghy that came out to rescue them. Will and I are about to hunt down some good food and relax tonight before I head back to Mamelodi tomorrow.

Originally posted on Vicarious Summer Blog

Powerhouse

by Nathan Clendenin on August 8th, 2005

Vincent’s church is called Powerhouse. And boy was it a house of power! Besides the wonderful singing, it was just beautiful to see the shining faces, full of happiness and praise. Will and I got up and shared a few words and what I told the congregation (about 150-200 people) was that despite the fact that many people look up to the U.S. church, we have so much to learn from them about how to worship and how to pray. I’m still processing all my thoughts on it, so I won’t share it all now, but as expected, I will not return to the U.S. the same person at all.

Will and I are in Capetown now. The weather changes about every 10 minutes, but it’s been pretty nice so far. Tomorrow should be a full day of seeing the beautiful sites. It’s really beautiful here.

Originally Posted on Vicarious Summer Blog

Finding the Story

by Nathan Clendenin on August 5th, 2005

This week 32 people will be buried in just one graveyard in Mamelodi. On Saturday I will shoot the majority of the funerals that will take place more or less simultaneously. After that’s over I’m heading to the airport to pick up my friend Will Brown (since we met at L’abri back in 2001, we’ve been doing trips) and then straight to a wedding that Vincent is officiating. I am looking forward to Will’s visit, and our excursion to Capetown next week. It will be good to take a step back from this project and see where I am what I need to accomplish in the last 10 days I am here.

In a story as obvious as “People are dying of AIDS in pandemic proportions” it takes some thinking to avoid the obvious pictures. My struggle so far has been to search outside the box for little moments and images that keep things interesting. Since the last post Vincent and I have been all over the place (Vincent has been the biggest help). He’s really making the process much easier and is always cheerful and laughing. We’ve interviewed an AIDS orphan, prayed for AIDS victims in their home, been to the graveyard a few times, talked to many different people and even visited a barbershop today (see pic of man with baby). One of the side stories I am hoping to pursue is about the many little shops people have set up to earn a living. This is how they fight poverty, through innovation and entrepreneurship. Poverty is the real problem here, not AIDS.

Originally posted on Vicarious Summer Blog

Mamelodi Moments

by Nathan Clendenin on August 3rd, 2005

I had quite a full day here in Mamelodi. I awoke at 5am to the beautiful sounds of the morning prayer meeting just outside my window. The singing was so beautiful, and it was great to just listen to it. Vincent and I ate some breakfast together around 9am (when I finally got up), then went out to meet with some older ladies at the YMCA. They welcomed me with tea and sandwiches. Apparently most of Mamelodi knew I was coming, so I’ve met lots of people eager to meet Vincent’s visitor. We also had lunch at the Y, after some singing and dancing. It was a great time. Afterwards we went to meet the gravedigger at the cemetery. He told us in Zulu all about how he got started digging during Apartheid, when it was the only job he could get in order to stay in the town and not be forced back to the countryside where he came from. He buried many victims of government killings and even endured threats and attempted murders from blacks who saw him as an extension of the government. This man will be a very interesting person to record audio with, and we’re going on Thursday morning to photograph at a funeral. Vincent has been such a blessing, helping find all kinds of people. And he really knows what I am looking for without me really asking. We’ll be riding along and he’ll say, “I know this orphan, his parents died of AIDS. We will talk to him”. And I say, “Yes, that would be very good.” It’s been working like that so far, and we have lined up that orphan, a woman who works in an AIDS ward, and possibly a prostitute with AIDS (the women who do that here do it for lack of any other way to get money, not because of greed or anything else, really).

Safety here has not been an issue so far. I have felt completely safe in every place I’ve been, including a very “dodgy” looking housing complex leftover from Apartheid (a hostel is what they call it). Plus, Vincent is with me all the time. I haven’t taken many photos yet that will actually be used for my project, but I’ve included one here of a neighborhood boy. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Originally posted on Vicarious Summer Blog