A burning ring of fire
This South African photographer takes an idiosyncratic approach to documenting life on the road – and the places in between
In 2006 I switched from analogue photography – 6x7 Asahi Pentax film cameras, in fact – to a Canon DSLR. My large camera case was suddenly reduced to a rucksack, and so my camera started to come to more locations with me throughout South Africa.
I’ve got many images (including these) that were taken ‘on the road’. One night, I found an old quarry near Augrabies. A great electric storm was bulging its muscles from the east as I settled in to watch. For the main shot, I left my camera open on a long exposure, letting each bolt of lightning burn itself on my Canon’s sensor. Each crack of thunder became a beautiful explosion that pushed a chorus of echoes against the hills. I remember so clearly: Johnny Cash was loudly singing Ring of Fire. Then, high on light and music and thunder and the enormity of the night, I walked down and drew a ring of fire with my camping light – fuelled by wild desire, round and round and round, like a burning thing. Petrol was poured on the outer circumference of the circle and lit. Finally, “I fell into a ring of fire…”
Due to the fact that I often travel on gravel roads in Africa, I have to deal with an extreme dust factor. For this reason, I keep my two lenses
permanently on my two Canon bodies. My 5D Mark II holds the 24-70mm lens, and the 6D has my 70-300mm. I never take them off, except on the odd occasion when I do a sensor wipe.
Travelling is just like reading the best book ever, over and over again – except that, page after page, the scenes come at you as stereoscopic and threedimensional images.
I drew a ring of fire with my camping light – fuelled by wild desire