Of Religion and Gangsters: Portrait of a Colored Community in South Africa

• Photographer
  George Philipas, United Kingdom
• Studio
  George Philipas Photography
• Website
  http://www.geojournalism.com

Just across the harbour from the relatively safe and affluent area I inhabit in Hout Bay,
a suburb of Cape Town is a colored community whose presence inspires both fear and awe
amongst my fellow residents. And the general relationship between the two communities is
one driven mainly by mutual suspicion.
After 5 years in South Africa, I still can't get used to the segregation along racial
lines that continues to plague the country to this day. Hout Bay is a microcosm of that
wider problem of racial division.
The effect of these lingering preconceptions and prejudices of a pre-apartheid South
Africa are everywhere intertwined in the landscape, and in the relationships between the
people themselves in Hangberg.
Inspired to break with these barriers of fear and prejudice I have spent 3 years inside
the homes and lives of the colored community of Hangberg . I wanted to see how the old
style prejudices of a pre-independent South Africa and the extreme class and economic
divisions in my home suburb and still so rampant in the country at large continue to
impact on the people and landscape of the place and community.
For sure, some preconceptions are real and present. Hangberg is set against spectacular
wind-swept mountainous scenery that all too often juxtaposes harshly with the poverty and
hardship that exists there and it is afflicted by all too familiar problems of crime and
gangsterism.
But looks as always can be deceiving. There is also a very different and more hidden
narrative there as well. That of a strong sense of community and bond that unites its
residents and that came as a surprise given all that I had heard before. The warmth and
friendliness of its people stands testament to the futility of prejudice and fear that
must be confronted once and for all if the Rainbow Nation is to truly move forward and
break with its dark past.
Shooting in medium format, I have tried to give a more considered impression of all
aspects of life visualising gangsters and pastors alike in the same manner and with the
same approach. This is deeply premeditative in itself and a reaction and direct challenge
to the casual prejudices borne out of social and economic divisions. An attempt to
perceive a community as is and not through an outdated narrative that one hopes will soon
be consigned to the dustbin of history.

After completing a Postgraduate Diploma from the London College of Communication (formerly London College of Printing) in 2001, I have worked mainly from Kenya. I undertake freelance work for Reuters and have undertaken work for several charities including Save the Children. WHO and the Clinton Foundation.
I have been published in various international publications, including the New York Times, Observer and the Independent in the UK.
I am currently represented by African Pictures (africamediaonline.com) based in South Africa.