Murraysburg is far from the main road to Cape Town...We drove through it on our way to Nieu Bethesda from Victoria West.
Our first impressions were rather sad as the first thing we saw as we entered town was the cemetery...
'God is love'
As we entered the town we noticed the cemetary on right. I stopped to have a look and saw that most of the graves were just heaps of rock, some marked and some unmarked with simple small handmade wooden crosses or tin boards. There were only a few graves here and there with more elaborate and fancy granite markers. Interestingly these gravestones were all protected by barbed wire or some sort of security.
It was quite a sad sight to see these heaps of stone and sand covering the dead bodies and to me it looked more like a dumping ground. What a strange place to be reminded again of the huge gap between the wealthy and the poor here in South Africa and also our high crime rates as evidenced by the burglar proofing around some of the 'wealthier' graves. This did not look like a cemetery at all but more like an illegal dumping ground with heaps of rubble lying randomly around.
As I said my first impressions of Murraysburg was rather sad...
Murraysburg looks like any other typical Karoo town with its dusty streets and rundown buildings and houses... but the people were friendly and even invited me into their homes to take photographs of all the family and friends. I would like to thank the Plaatjies and Carolus families that live in Beaufort str. for allowing me to take their photographs and inviting me into their homes.
More than 90% of the population of some of these Karoo towns are 'coloured' people that speak Afrikaans, which is also my mother tongue. I really felt at home here and the two families I photographed were full of laughter and joy...quite a contrast to the depressing sight that greeted us as we entered the town.
I used my Canon Eos 6D and took most of the photographs with my EF 40mm f2.8 pancake and a few with the Ef 85mm F1.8. From the time we entered town, and between my first ans last, was only 1 1/2 hours. On trips like these I dont really have time to get to know the people or the town. I just walk down the street and take it from there...invariably iI will meet someone interesting and just ask them if I could take their photograph. Before long they wil call their friends and passers by to join and before you know it I am in their house photographing everyone that will allow me to.
Regards, Ivan
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