Popular lensman Pine Pienaar dies
Shutter closes on extraordinary life
AMAN who inspired a generation of photographers and had a huge impact on the lives of those he met, lived his own life with the philosophy that “life is life; even through pain or pleasure, living for the moment is more important”.
That man, popular Port Elizabeth photographer and teacher Pine Pienaar, 69, died yesterday at his son’s home in Richmond Hill.
Diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, Pienaar died exactly two months after being released from hospital following surgery to remove a brain tumour.
His son, Simon, 33, an only child, said last night it was difficult to put into words the type of person his father was.
“He was a private person and didn’t really brag much about things, but he has a huge back story,” Simon said, reminiscing about aspects of his father’s interesting life.
Pienaar was drafted into the army as a young man, but soon ran away.
“He was very anti-government at the time and ran away to Mozambique, where he lived on the beach for a year and a half, like you would see on [television reality show] Survivor,” Simon said.
Pienaar later started a tour company, taking tourists from South Africa to Mozambique. It was during this time that he was approached by a photographer and asked if he would be interested in photography.
“He decided he would be better [than the photographer] and went back to Johannesburg to pursue this – and that is where he met my mother,” Simon said.
During the 1970s, Pienaar and his former wife, Therina, lived in Hillbrow in Johannesburg, before moving to Port Elizabeth where he eventually began lecturing in fine art photography and communications at the former Technikon.
He took early retirement after 17 years, leaving lecturing 10 years ago and starting his own photography school, Pine Grove Studios.
“It’s weird, more than anything he was a storyteller ... he believed a photograph was a good way to tell a story, a way to encapsulate a variety of aspects,” Simon said.
Friend and former colleague Salvelio Meyer, of Walmer, said he had learnt a lot from Pienaar. “He was quite a character. He took photography to another level,” Meyer said. “He was an amazing person.”
Former student Tarryn Rennie, 41, of Parsons Hill, called Pienaar’s death a loss for the photographic industry.
While funeral arrangements are still being finalised, Simon said his father had wanted something simple.
“We are looking at a private cremation and then a public picnic,” he said. “We must celebrate the life he lived.”