Cape Town - Out of many images news photographers and photojournalists take while covering a story, few actually get published.
An exhibition titled UnPublished is changing that by acknowledging and celebrating the best unpublished photographs.
Founded by Eyewitness News’ multimedia journalist Aletta Gardner, the exhibition features 21 images taken by South Africa’s most talented photographers.
Gardner said the pictures that didn’t make the cut often haunted her.
For that reason, she wanted to create a platform on which unseen images could be given their deserved prominence.
“You don’t think about the pictures then as we are often rushing to the next story. But you look back and think ‘that picture really speaks to me’,” she said.
The exhibition at Young Blood Gallery on Bree Street opened last Thursday and features 21 images, which give the public a glimpse into the unpredictable journey a news photographer takes and the faces they encounter while on assignment.
“The response has been amazing. I never expected it (the exhibition) to be this busy as I’ve never done anything like this before. I am completely overwhelmed.” Gardner said. “The idea was never about making money but more about doing something good.”
The photographs were curated by photojournalist and Go! Magazine photo editor Samantha Reinders, photojournalist and Times senior photographer James Oatway and Orms owner Mike Ormrod.
Each print costs R3 000 and profits are donated to Iliso Labantu, an photographic collection group that supports photographers from disadvantaged communities.
At the exhibition Gardner showcases a portrait of teenager Abulele Qwase which was taken during an assignment in Qunu while covering Nelson Mandela’s birthday in 2012.
“I sometimes returned to the picture of the girl. I found a sense of wonder looking at it and felt a little sad that it would never be seen. It wasn’t the strongest photograph to accompany that particular news story, but just had this glowing significance for me, which deserves to be shared,” she says
Other exhibiting photographers include the Cape Argus’s Henk Kruger, Thomas Holder, Thulani Mbele and Gareth Smit, among others.
The exhibition runs until October 3.
Cape Argus