1991 Photo Contest, Children's Award, Individual awards
Photographer

Joanne Rathe

The Boston Globe

01 January, 1990

Two weeks after blacks had been given the right to travel on buses previously reserved for whites, black and white South Africans wait for the same bus at a stop in downtown Johannesburg. Joanne Rathe: 'When I arrived in South Africa in 1990, four years after my first visit, there was excitement in the air. In downtown Johannesburg the shocking ‘Whites Only’ signs had gone, and Nelson Mandela’s release was imminent. The challenge was to document the subtle changes that were taking place. Noticing these blacks and whites waiting together for a bus, I parked my car, grabbed my camera and took the picture. They sat frozen, displaying a universal body language that can be read by children of all ages and nationalities.' (World Press Photo retrospective Children's Jury exhibition, 2003)

About the photographer

Joanne Rathe

Joanne Rathe graduated from Boston University and then worked for a year for Springfield Newspapers in Massachusetts. After that she worked as a photographer for The Boston Heral...

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