These cliffs are always reminding us of the ‘End of the Earth’ - here indeed ends, it seems like it just falls into the deep dark sea.
Read MoreREST STOP, SWARTBERG PASS, WESTERN CAPE
STERKFONTEIN CAVES, (FROM SWART STER OOR DIE KAROO, JAN RABIE, 1957) JOHANNESBURG, GAUTENG
‘The time: Just before the end of the 20th century, just after the first human feet touched the moon and Mars.
The place: Somewhere in the Southwest Karoo on the highest level of the big empty table land where the world's largest observatory has been standing since the first human generation… This whole complex of highly specialized activities is known as Saakni, the South —African Cosmic Research Institute, a secret, forbidden world, set apart by a twenty-kilometer-wide buffer strip, guards and laser beams.’
Photograph inspired by ‘Swart ster oor die Karoo’ (Black star over the Karoo) by Jan Rabie, 1957. the Saankni institute is underground, and becomes a safe haven for humans after the Earth stops turning and the surface becoms unbearably cold.
Read MoreSTIPAGROSTIS OBTUSA (DELILE) NEES # 1, BETWEEN CALVINIA AND WILINSTON, NORTHERN CAPE
LOELOERAAI’S COURTROOM #2, (FROM LOELOERAAI, 1923, CJ LANGENHOVEN) OUDTSHOORN MAGISTRATE, WESTERN CAPE
“The prisoner will finish three months of hard labour and then be sent away. Constable, remove him.”
Then Loeloeraai took his first part of the events.
“Wait, constable,” he says, “I’ve got something to say to the magistrate. Official,” he continues to the magistrate, “I don’t blame you. You are doing what you perceive as your duty. I also have a duty that I’m committed to - a commitment to myself and to those that I represent here alone. In the world that I’m coming from, we are law abiding, not under the force of the magistrates and constables and jails and chains, but out of love for one another.’
From Loeloeraai, 1923, CJ Langenhoven (Translated from the original Afrikaans)
Read MoreLOELOERAAI’S COURTROOM #1, (FROM LOELOERAAI, 1923, CJ LANGENHOVEN) OUDTSHOORN MAGISTRATE, WESTERN CAPE
“The prisoner will finish three months of hard labour and then be sent away. Constable, remove him.”
Then Loeloeraai took his first part of the events.
“Wait, constable,” he says, “I’ve got something to say to the magistrate. Official,” he continues to the magistrate, “I don’t blame you. You are doing what you perceive as your duty. I also have a duty that I’m committed to - a commitment to myself and to those that I represent here alone. In the world that I’m coming from, we are law abiding, not under the force of the magistrates and constables and jails and chains, but out of love for one another.’
From Loeloeraai, 1923, CJ Langenhoven (Translated from the original Afrikaans)
Read MoreLOELOERAAI’S COURTROOM #3, (FROM LOELOERAAI, 1923, CJ LANGENHOVEN) OUDTSHOORN MAGISTRATE, WESTERN CAPE
“The prisoner will finish three months of hard labour and then be sent away. Constable, remove him.”
Then Loeloeraai took his first part of the events.
“Wait, constable,” he says, “I’ve got something to say to the magistrate. Official,” he continues to the magistrate, “I don’t blame you. You are doing what you perceive as your duty. I also have a duty that I’m committed to - a commitment to myself and to those that I represent here alone. In the world that I’m coming from, we are law abiding, not under the force of the magistrates and constables and jails and chains, but out of love for one another.’
From Loeloeraai, 1923, CJ Langenhoven (Translated from the original Afrikaans)
Read MoreDIE HEL, GAMKASKLOOF, WESTERN CAPE
ALOE, GAMKASKLOOF, WESTERN CAPE
SUN MAN (SU-GAR), 10.15 AM, CAPE TOWN
The Sun Man, as some refer to him, stares at the sun every day. He makes a little hole between his fingers to protect his eyes, but they still become red and swollen on some days. We realised that he changes position and posture based on the availability of sunlight in certain areas and the position of the sun. When it is midday for instance, he needs to sit down to be able to lean back and stare straight up to the sun.
Read MoreSUN MAN (SU-GAR), 5.50PM, CAPE TOWN
Why do you stare at the Sun?
'For no reason.'
What is your name?
'Sugar.'
And your surname?
'Su... Ga.'
KWAGGA, ITEMBA ACCELERATOR-BASED SCIENCES, CAPE TOWN, WESTERN CAPE
DETAIL, TABLE MOUNTAIN, CAPE TOWN
ZEBRAS #2, ITHEMBA LABS, CAPE TOWN
THE OLD MINE #6, GOLD REEF CITY, JOHANNESBURG, GAUTENG
In 2011 the deepest land living creature was discovered inside a South African gold mine. A new species of nematode worm Halicephalobus mephisto was found 3.5km below the surface. They thrive in conditions thought to be too harsh for any creature - where previously it was thought that only single-celled bacteria survive.
The discovery has also encouraged the search for life on other planets with the possibility of more creatures surviving underground.
‘I look at the moon basically every night because I walk up and down between the kitchen and here. Actually when I look at the moon I can almost tell you how many days it will be until full moon or till dark moon. You pick up a lot of things about nature - like when it will rain. You can tell by the baboons and how they are screaming, by the ants carrying their food. Nature is absolutely part of my life here and I wouldn’t exchange it for the town - not at all. I mean, you can’t actually describe all of this, you got to be here to feel it - to be part of it… sort of. I just acknowledge myself as a very privileged person, to be here - just to see the sky and nature on the ground and everything all come together. You have to be here to see what is going on - to live with it. Then you start to believe how great nature is, how great God is. I mean he put everything there for us and it fits together like a puzzle.’
TJOL HERBST, TOLHUIS, R354 BETWEEN MATJIESFONTEIN AND SUTHERLAND
’I’m actually from Kuilsriver, but we moved to Paarl and I got heavy asthma - so we decided to move here. Since we’ve been here I don’t get any asthma - nature became my health-pill here. I’m relaxed. We are totally off the grid - we don’t have a landline, or cell reception and the police van doesn’t even catch his radio signal here. We are cut off from the world and like it that way - and the kids can’t bother us unnecessarily. We do go to town once a week and then they can reach us. If there is an emergency the police will come out and call us. I prefer this place, because here you can actually see the stars - you get the feeling that they are so near that you want to pick them like flowers, while in town you don’t see it as there are too many lights around you. Here you get the darkness and it is so near to nature.’
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CHARLES WILLIAMS, SSC OPERATOR, ITHEMBA LABS, CAPE TOWN
'You have got a number of control systems together here... the interlock system it shows that the personnel, as well as the equipment, are safe. If anything does happen the interlock system PC will be aware of default. Anything highlighted in red shows that there is a problem here. Using the Interlock system we can track down the source of the area.'
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ZEBRAS, ITHEMBA LABS, CAPE TOWN
The facility hosts different kinds of herbivores and birds on site.
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'We radiate blood with neutrons because astronauts beyond our orbit are also exposed to neutrons. They are exposed to a very low dose for a very long term.'
Charlotte Vandervoorde, Researcher, IThemba LABS, Cape Town. The microscope is used to analyze radiation-induced DNA damage in cells. The microscope is scanning slides with irradiated cells to identify the breaks in the chromosomes which can result in mutations or cell death.
AUTOMATED METASYSTEMS MICROSCOPE, ITHEMBA LABS, CAPE TOWN
'We radiate blood with neutrons because astronauts beyond our orbit are also exposed to neutrons. They are exposed to a very low dose for a very long term.'
Charlotte Vandervoorde, Researcher, IThemba LABS, Cape Town. The microscope is used to analyze radiation-induced DNA damage in cells. The microscope is scanning slides with irradiated cells to identify the breaks in the chromosomes which can result in mutations or cell death.
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On background the Material Research Department (MRD).
'The main goal is to understand how elements are created in the universe - everything is started after the big bang and from the big bang to the time where we have now the earth with the humans, with the vegetation, animals - there was a lot of time and during each sequence of the time new particles have been created, a new state of matter.'
Dr. Faïçal Azaiez, Director, iThemba LABS, Laboratory for Accelerator-Based Sciences
DRIED PALM , ITHEMBA LABS, CAPE TOWN
'The main goal is to understand how elements are created in the universe - everything is started after the big bang and from the big bang to the time where we have now the earth with the humans, with the vegetation, animals - there was a lot of time and during each sequence of the time new particles have been created, a new state of matter.'
Dr. Faïçal Azaiez, Director, iThemba LABS, Laboratory for Accelerator-Based Sciences
On background the Material Research Department (MRD).
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