A big heartfelt thanks to @kathumphries of @harpersmagazine for featuring this photo from my monograph, Love from Manenberg, in the January PRINT(!) issue. “Cam Road and Red River Street, 2014.” Follow the link in my bio to order a signed copy of the book. @deborahlottering ❤️
Paris Photo attendees, I'll be signing copies of Love from Manenberg on Thursday, November 10, from 2:00-2:30 pm at the Kehrer Verlag booth (SE 20 in the book sector). Please come say hello! 🌞 #lovefrommanenberg #CapeTown #SouthAfrica #KehrerVerlag #longtermphotography #parisphoto
Ten advance copies of Love from Manenberg arrived in the mail. It's beyond beautiful and still hard to believe it's real. Follow the link in my bio to purchase a signed book. #lovefrommanenberg #KehrerVerlag #SouthAfrica #longtermphotography
Love from Manenberg is now available to order online! Follow the link in my bio to get your copy. Published by Kehrer Verlag, Love from Manenberg is a moving portrait of three families in Manenberg, South Africa. #lovefrommanenberg #capetown #southafrica #manenberg #Kehrerverlag #westerncape #khoisan
Naomi died on September 21. It's hard to process. Her death, the publication of the book, what's next in Manenberg. Right now, I'm grateful I made it to the funeral. The hardest part was leaving the cemetery. She was a people person and I worry she'll feel alone. She's under the shade of a tree with Table Mountain—the anchor of Cape Town for better and worse—in the distance. Rest easy, Naomi. #lovefrommanenberg
With less than 20 hours left of the Love from Manenberg book campaign, I'm sharing one more story. This one starts in Manenberg and ends in Brooklyn. As I often say about the people I photograph in Manenberg, we have become a part of the fabric of each other's lives. Long-term projects like Love from Manenberg come with deep relationships, difficult understandings, empathy, and admiration. And if we're really lucky, dogs. In 2015 my 3-year-old son, husband, and I were in a car accident and lost our first dog, a Boston Terrier named Norma Jean. Debbie sent message after message helping me through dark days. When I left for South Africa a few weeks after the accident, my body was healed from the brain hemorrhage, but I was a mess emotionally. When I arrived Debbie's dog, Blackie, was busy with a litter of pups. I couldn't help Norma Jean, but I could help get these pups vaccinated and get Blackie spade, so I did. I loaded them in a milk crate and drove them to the local shelter, which offers free vaccinations and sterilizations. Long story short, one pup named Misty seized my heart. I asked Debbie if she would consider letting Misty come back to New York with me. With zero hesitation Debbie said yes. A few months later Misty flew from Cape Town to JFK and settled into my son's arms. Misty's full name is Misty Rae and she goes by Rae Rae. She is the best sister to my three sons and is teaching them how to be gentle. 1: Rae Rae in Brooklyn, 2018 2: Rae Rae the day she arrived in New York, 2016 3: Blackie, Rae Rae's mom (c. 2008-2022) 4: Rae Rae in Cape Town, 2016 4: Rae Rae with her brothers on the first day of school, 2022 Many more stories like this are included in the Whatsapp dialogue between me and Debbie, transcribed in Love from Manenberg. Follow the link in my bio to pre-order. #lovefrommanenberg #forcedgeographies #capetown #southafrica #capeflats #tablemountain #photobook #globalhealth #motherhood #photography #kickstarter #khoisan #familyphotos #longtermdocumentary #dogs
The Love from Manenberg Kickstarter campaign reached its goal this morning. I am touched and grateful. Thank you to everyone near, far, and unexpected who pledged, shared on social media, and responded to emails. I will not forget. Here are some insider snaps of the beautiful people who will be holding the book in their hands, thanks to you. There were many hard things about this Kickstarter — the vulnerability, the awkward asks, the silences, the fear of not reaching my goal. Crossing the finish line this morning was electrifying. Thank you to everyone who participated in this campaign in your own way and uplifted me and the people of Manenberg. xx p.s. 66 hours left to make a pledge!! Follow the link in my bio. #lovefrommanenberg #photobook #southafrica #capeflats #motherhood #manenberg #kickstarter
One of the most poignant storylines in Love from Manenberg is the story of Naomi Lottering. Fierce, funny, and vulnerable, she was 25 when I met her and searching for freedom. She hated the gang wars in Manenberg. She experimented with alcohol and drugs. The temporary escape they provided drew her further and further away. She disappeared for weeks then months at a time. I love Naomi with all my heart. At the same time, there has been endless concern and frustration for her whereabouts, her health, her stubbornness. Anger that she put herself and others in danger. Last year at age 36, Naomi had a stroke and lay on her father's floor for nine hours before the paramedics finally arrived. Now, nearly incapacitated and confined to a wheelchair, she lives with her sister Debbie in a house full of family that love and care for her unconditionally. Naomi is the first person who brought me to Manenberg in 2011. This work would not exist without her. Follow the link in my bio to order a signed copy of the upcoming Love from Manenberg book, published by @kehrerverlag and designed by @bonniebriant . There are some special rewards that deliver a book to Naomi's family in Manenberg or nearby library in your name. The campaign runs through Saturday. Free shipping worldwide. Photos: 2012, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2022 Thank you to all who have ordered and helped spread the word 🤍 #lovefrommanenberg #forcedgeographies #capetown #southafrica #capeflats #tablemountain #photobook #globalhealth #motherhood #photography #kickstarter #khoisan #familyphotos #longtermdocumentary
If you can, please consider pre-ordering Love from Manenberg. At first, there was a lot I didn’t understand about Manenberg and all the people I would photograph. Now, I have returned to Manenberg for more than 10 years and intend to return for the rest of my life. There are certainly complexities I will never grasp, but I understand much more than I did in 2011. I made thousands of pictures, I asked questions, and I listened. I became a mother. I grew older and more experienced, and I bonded with the families whose stories are reflected in this book. For over a decade, the women of the Lottering, Pietersen, and Adams families have shared their lives, showing the texture, unity, and comfort of Manenberg, their home. With over 150 reportage images, 80 studio portraits, historical drawings, and intimate dialogue, Love from Manenberg is a moving portrait of three families in Manenberg, a community plagued by violence and haunted histories. Follow the link in bio to order a signed copy. There are some special rewards that deliver a book to a family in Manenberg or nearby library in your name. The campaign runs for a limited time. Thank you to all who have pledged and helped spread the word 🤍 #lovefrommanenberg #forcedgeographies #capetown #southafrica #capeflats #tablemountain #photobook #globalhealth #motherhood #photography #kickstarter #khoisan #familyphotos #longtermdocumentary
In August 2013, when I was days away from delivering Errol, my first of three children, and Debbie was pregnant with Zipporah, her third of three children, we started chatting on WhatsApp. Thousands of messages have been exchanged since then. We check in with each other nearly every day. Among the dependable “hi, morning, how r u, nites, sleep well, mwa,” major themes have emerged: The whereabouts and wellbeing of Naomi, our pregnancies, our kids, the failing health of our fathers, Debbie’s work, and Manenberg’s gang wars. The chat transcript is also crowded with happy birthdays, pictures of our kids and dogs, holiday plans, doctor visits, bad days, and sleepless nights. Debbie sums it up nicely by saying we talk about, “everything, everything. She’ll tell me what’s happening that side and I’ll tell her what’s happening this side.” A fraction of the text exchanges between Debbie and me are included in the upcoming Love from Manenberg book, providing intimate dialogue and a rare first-person account of life in Manenberg. Follow the link in my bio to order a signed copy. Thank you to all who have pledged and helped spread the word ❤️ Kickstarter is all or nothing. #lovefrommanenberg #forcedgeographies #capetown #southafrica #capeflats #tablemountain #photobook #globalhealth #motherhood #photography #kickstarter #khoisan #familyphotos #whatsapp
Since 2011 I’ve printed thousands of pictures to leave with the people of Manenberg. For three years before the pandemic, I set up lights and a blue backdrop in Manenberg Library and invited the community to have a portrait made. Everyone who was photographed received a print. The images have been framed and taped to water heaters and cinder block walls. They’ve been cut into collages, tucked between pages of books, and have settled into drawers. They are stored and displayed alongside family photographs made long before I ever stepped foot in Manenberg. Eighty of the portraits are included in the upcoming Love from Manenberg book, available for pre-order on @kickstarter . Follow the link in my bio to order a signed copy. Love from Manenberg is a @kehrerverlag fall 2022 title. There are some special rewards, including options that deliver a book to a family in Manenberg or nearby library. Thank you to all who have pledged and helped spread the word ❤️ Kickstarter is all or nothing. #lovefrommanenberg #forcedgeographies #capetown #southafrica #capeflats #tablemountain #photobook #globalhealth #motherhood #photography #kickstarter #khoisan #familyphotos
Working in Manenberg for over a decade, I learned I had to acknowledge and contend with the darkness and haunted histories there while staying acutely aware of the community's joy, vibrancy, and comfort. Pre-orders for Love from Manenberg are available now on @kickstarter . Follow the link in my bio to order a signed copy. Love from Manenberg is a @kehrerverlag fall 2022 title. There are some special rewards, including options that deliver a book to a family in Manenberg or nearby library. Thank you to all who have pledged and helped spread the word ❤️ Kickstarter is all or nothing. 16 days left to pre-order. Image 1: Table Mountain from Sabie Road. The Indigenous people of South Africa named Table Mountain Huri ǂoaxa (Hoerikwaggo). Many of their descendants live in the Cape Flats. 2020. Image 2: Chalcey (left) and Chandre practicing a dance they learned on TikTok. 2020. Image 3: A young man smoking tik (crystal meth). 2012. Image 4: “Khoikhoi in a Storm,” c. 1700, likely drawn by a Dutch artist attached to the Dutch East India Company. From the collection The Khoikhoi at the Cape of Good Hope: Seventeenth century drawings. Courtesy of the National Library of South Africa. #lovefrommanenberg #forcedgeographies #capetown #southafrica #capeflats #tablemountain #photobook #globalhealth #motherhood #photography #kickstarter #khoisan