Cape Times photographer honoured

SCOURGE: A child sleeps as tik is smoked nearby. Cape Times photographer Brenton Geach was highly commended for this photograph in Picture the Change, a national photographic competition that invited South Africans to draw attention to deserving causes through photos that reflect change or the need for it. Photo: Brenton Geach

Staff Writer

CAPE TIMES photographer Brenton Geach has been highly commended for his photograph depicting the ravages of drug abuse on the Cape Flats.

He entered Picture the Change, a national photographic competition that invited South Africans to draw attention to deserving causes through photos that reflect change or the need for it.

Geach, who had chosen the Peninsula School Feeding Association as beneficiary should he win, said he had entered the competition to highlight the plight of children who were the victims of the scourge of tik addiction.

“I feel the children are suffering and government doesn’t see how bad it is. It’s a desperate situation.”

Geach had been photographing drug-ravaged communities for seven years.

“The innocent children are suffering. There is no money and kids are begging to go to school because they can get a meal.

“I’ve seen the look on their faces when they get that single meal.”

Cape Times editor Alide Dasnois said: “A picture like this demands a rare combination of skill and commitment and Brenton has plenty of both.

“We are very proud that his dedication has been acknowledged.”

The competition’s winning image, of a rhino suspended from a helicopter, was submitted by Michael Raimondo, director of the Cape Town film production company Green Renaissance.

The picture captures its translocation to a safer locality as part of World Wildlife Fund’s Black Rhino Range Expansion Project.

An image depicting a nanny carrying a white child on her back, while her own toddler walked alongside her, portraying the inequalities in SA, won the second award.

Photographer Rob Greaves wanted to draw attention to Open Africa, an NGO that used tourism as a driver to create jobs for rural Africans.

Picture the Change is a corporate social responsibility initiative sponsored by RamsayMedia and BoE Private Clients.