Meeting Mandela

Coming face-to-face with the South African President was a memorable moment

“I photographed Nelson Mandela in 1997, as part of a commission to document South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” says Jillian. “He was the President at that time and I went to meet him at the presidential house. When I was photographing him, I was using a light meter and he put out his hand to grab it. I explained to him that I was taking a light reading. Mandela smiled, and said, slightly embarrassed, ‘Oh… I’m just a country bumpkin.’ He was so modest, easy and helpful, completely humble and giving. I was given a total of ten minutes for the shoot. At that time he was going through a difficult personal time and he had recently divorced from Winnie Mandela. What I managed to capture, in an off-guard moment, was some kind of poignancy and sadness.”