Alf Kumalo – Books
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Mandela: Echoes of an Era, Alf Kumalo: South African Photographer
Through My Lens
Over 50 years of intimate observations:
Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko, Robert Sobukwe, Albertina Sisulu, Desmond Tutu, The Women’s March, Sharpeville, Treason Trial, Verwoerd’s Funeral, Soweto Uprising, Muhammed Ali, Ray Charles, Miriam Makeba, Dizzy Gillespe, Hugh Masekela, OR Tambo, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Helen Joseph, Mamphela Ramphele, Nat Nkasa, Nadine Gordimer, Robert Kennedy, Kippie Moeketsi, Letta Mbuli.
If I were to describe the collection in my own words, I would write:
“Alf Kumalo, an internationally recognized photographer, was on the spot to capture many key dramatic moments in South Africa’s liberation history, both tragic and joyous. In this collection Kumalo demonstrates his unique access to diverse iconic figures, not only in the South African struggle, but also in the global spotlight. It includes his poignant coverage of the everyday lives of Blacks under the apartheid regime, and reveals the unquenchable spirit of the oppressed.”
8115, A Prisoner’s Home
In 8115: A Prisoner’s Home, Alf Kumalo presents some of the most important and intimate pictures of the family life of Nelson and Winnie Mandela. The Mandela’s lived at 8115 Vilikazi Street, Soweto. In his autobiography Mandela said of the home: ‘ …identical to hundreds of others …it had the same standard tin roof, the same cement floor, a narrow kitchen, and a bucket toilet at the back.’ Kumalo was a family friend of the Mandela’s and one has a sense of him as a familiar observer.