The man from yesterday

Click to enlarge

During a recent trip to Arniston (also known as Waenhuiskrans) we wandered through the little fishing village called Kassiesbaai. (That’s a lot of place names for a single sentence, isn’t it?) The village is a heritage site made up of white, mostly thatched cottages, inhabited by fishermen and their dependents. Except, not many of them go to sea to make a living these days.

The fishing village spreads over a small hill and most of the people you meet are delightful, despite living on the breadline. They’re used to visitors and very agreeable to handouts. For the foodies, Willeen’s restaurant on the south-eastern side serves an excellent plate of fish and chips.

Like most visitors, our purpose was to take photographs, as you've guessed. The people of Kassiesbaai are quite amenable to having their pictures taken – in return for a small incentive. And because the population spans very young children to very elderly persons, finding someone with outstanding photographic features is easy.

I found Johannes, pictured above, agreeable to posing for a few shillings, as they said in the old days. Days from which he hailed. Once a captain of a fishing boat, time and circumstances have wiped away his smile, replacing it with an acquiescent expression of resignation. His main gripe is that he’s been declared too old to go to sea. I couldn’t establish whether the community or some higher authority issued the restrictive proclamation. None-the-less, it’s left him penniless except for a meagre government grant.

When we were done, I gave Johannes 100 Rands for his time and effort. He almost smiled and his eyes glistened. Thinking him close to tears, I moved off in embarrassment.

On reflection, I was of two minds. One hundred Rands for modelling is nothing in the photographic world. Yet, for Johannes, it was a windfall he’ll probably remember for the rest of his days. Standing around for less than thirty minutes, he'd just earned a tenth of his monthly grant. A lot more than any of his peers earned for the same effort.

I still felt a little guilty.

By the way, the image above is what we refer to as ‘low saturation’ – somewhere between colour and black and white. I thought it an appropriate rendering for this picture.