Orange is the Colour of the Sun

My thoughts wobble along as the fat lady sings them, spreading melodies over the passing landscapes that struggle to keep up with the lines of the refrains. My done is never dusted, my hopes are never shattered, my dreams, yes, often scratched and a little dented, but never dashed. Just sometimes, replenishment of my saddened soul comes with renewed pictorial energy.

‘Do what you do do well, boy, do what you do do well’, an old 1965 song by Ned Miller, pops up from long ago horizons, and I tap out the faded words to the potholed vibrations on my steering wheel as I drive. On, along we go, from Haenertsburg in Limpopo, southwards towards another place, one more town, a story on the Dutch-named Utrecht.

In Sabie, I speak at the international congress of the Photographic Snap Shooters of Africa. Over three hours of pictorial words and images, I emphasise that, with enthusiasm, imagination and commitment, pictures done well can bring a chorus of memories. Photography is a two-dimentional, back-up time machine to the story of your life. Love it and it will, in turn, fill you with gladness and, perhaps sometimes, with a little sadness.

We curve our way down the Northern Drakensberg and join the roar of the N4 to Machadodorp, then swing south on the R33 to