1999 Photo Contest, Portraits, 1st prize
Photographer

Jodi Bieber

for The National Arts Council of South Africa

01 January, 1998

The Cloete sisters watch over their mother. About 500 people make up the community of Eksteenfontein in the semi-desert of Richtersveld in the Northern Cape, South Africa. The village has a liquor store, two shops, a community hall, a guesthouse, two churches and a shebeen (informal drinking place) - but no electricity. Historically known as the Bosluis Basters, the residents are of both white and colored (mixed race) origin. Under the apartheid government, Eksteenfontein was declared a 'colored area'. Many whites married to coloreds gave up their race status in order to remain with their families.

About the photographer

Jodi Bieber

Jodi Bieber is a photographer from South Africa whose work explores contemporary issues related to gender, politics and identity, often contradicting the mainstream media narrati...

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