Notes

Paul Weinberg has been photographing life in southern Africa since the 1980s, gaining international recognition for his role in critically exposing and opposing apartheid’s atrocities. As well as having captured some of the most important events in recent history – such as the 1994 elections in South Africa – Weinberg’s work also focuses on peoples, cultures and environments living ‘beyond the headlines’. His interests range from depicting the lives of the modern San in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa to the portrayal of the fishermen of the Kosi Bay community.

This photograph is part of the series Moving Spirit: Spirituality in Southern Africa. Weinberg started this project just after 1994, when South Africa embarked on a national healing process, hoping to experience more personal methods of healing and spirituality through his fellow countrymen, while battling his own longstanding depression. The woman depicted in this photograph is a traditional healer, praying in local caves that are believed to have special spiritual and healing powers. They are frequented by a wide range of devotees, including Zion Church practitioners, on various pilgrimages throughout the year.

Provenance

Donated by the artist