DURBAN – Anti-apartheid photojournalist Ranjith Kally has died aged 91.
He passed away on Tuesday morning at his daughters home in Johannesburg.
Kally, a former photojournalist with the Golden City Post and Drum Magazine had a penchant for capturing some iconic figures of the Anti-Apartheid struggle. One of Kally's celebrated shot was a picture of political stalwarts Dr Monty Naicker, Nelson Mandela, Dr Yusuf Dadoo, and others of the South African Indian Congress and the ANC, captured in 1963, when they were seen leaving the Pretoria Synagogue during the treason trial.
Ranjith Kally striking a pose during his heydays.
Kally was born in Reunion near Isiphingo in Durban on November 26, 1925. He is survived by his children Jyoti, Jyanti and Pavitra, and grandchildren Dhirren and Ashali.
Satish Dupelia, Mahatma Gandhi's grandson and media personality, paid tribute to Kally on Facebook.
"As a 14 year old boy I studied photography and darkroom work but had no darkroom. Uncle Ranjith let me use his room with the proviso that I kept it as clean as I found it," he wrote.
"When Percy Sledge came down flash photography was banned as Percy had an eye problem. Uncle Ranjith did not moan and shot using a slightly higher speed film and darkroom techniques to produce brilliant shots that even Percy Sledge commented on. He was a great but humble gentleman and earned my respect. He was and is a legend but to those who knew him he was a warm hearted person with a classic sense of humour and was also never scared to call a spade a spade (to speak his mind). REST IN PEACE UNCLE RANJITH KALLY – a legend gone!"
In June last year, the Sunday Tribune Herald featured him in the popular "Our Heroes" feature. Independent Media's Mervyn Naidoo spoke to him at the time, this is what the legendary South African photojournalist had to say.
HIS LIFE BEHIND A CAMERA EXPOSED
June 9, 2016:
RANJITH Kally used the following analogy to describe the art of taking photographs: "Every girl has beauty, you've just got to find it".
His description frames the diligence, determination and artistry that pulsed through this photographer.
It's that attention to detail, over many decades, that has developed Kally into the legendary photographer he has become.
Much of his work, as a long-serving employee, featured on the pages of the then Golden City Post newspaper and its stable mate, Drum magazine.
And his pictures have also been displayed at local and international exhibitions, with some now being preserved because they captured, most often in black and white, iconic South African moments.
Given his photographic prowess, Kally, 90, has been showered with accolades and awards over the years.
The honour he remembers most fondly was: coming third in a competition run by Japanese photographic company Pentax. His picture, taken during a Shembe Church festival, was among 150 000 entries.
Associate membership of the Royal Photographic Society London, receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and, in 2013, being named an eThekwini Municipality "Living Legend" are also among his achievements.
As a youngster, it never clicked that taking pictures would become his trade.
A teenage Kally was drawn into photography. "By chance. I went to a jumble sale and bought a folding Kodak camera for sixpence". His affinity flashed immediately.
Ranjith Kally with his treasured picture of former ANC president Chief Albert Luthuli.
He got advice from a Mr Whysall, who operated a popular shop in Durban.
Kally wanted to join a local camera club to further his interest and ability but the organisation catered for "whites only".
However, Kally said his subsequent membership of the Durban International Photographic Club benefitted him because he learnt from overseas photographers.
From taking pictures at social events, Kally did freelance work for the Leader Newspaper and then joined Golden City Post and Drum in 1956. He retired in the 1980s.
Taking pictures at private events was borne of his need to supplement his earnings as a worker at a shoe factory, where he spent 15 years. Kally's family lived in a village in Reunion, near the old Durban Airport. His father was a Sardar (foreman) in a nearby sugar cane mill.
"I remember walking barefoot, for more than a mile-and-a-half, to school every day.
"Sometimes the front of my big toe would get badly gashed while walking on the cobblestone pathway. Often, the same injury would be aggravated a few days later, on the pathway. I can still feel that excruciating pain when I think about it."
His family's financial difficulties forced him to find work after finishing Standard 6 (Grade 8).
Ranjith Kally captured Rivonia trialists Dr Monty Naicker, Nelson Mandela, Dr Yusuf Dadoo, and others of the South African Indian Congress and the ANC in Pretoria
Kally's coverage of politics of yesteryear and courts is where he earned most prominence and trouble because he was prepared to push boundaries.
Once he smuggled a camera into court so he could snap the role players in a prominent murder matter.
"I got the judge, the seven accused, prosecutor and legal teams in one shot by wearing my camera under my shirt.
"While standing at the court's entrance, I opened a shirt button to expose my Nikon's wide-angled lens and took the picture."
Kally said it was the most daring deed and was pleasantly surprised when "nobody batted an eyelid" at the published pictures.
"Not even the seven members of the notorious "Crimson League" gang, who stood accused in the dock.
"I was passionate about my job and overlooked risks to get pictures."
But, on one occasion Kally had to bottle his passion for the job with haste and run for cover when a hitman for the Sallot gang confronted him about a picture he had shot.
"I don't know where I got the energy from but I flew like dust out of there."
With the publications' "open-minded" owner Jim Bailey running stories on apartheid atrocities, Kally said they had to "walk a thin line between police and political parties.
"It was very dangerous and I had to be very wary of Special Forces officers who watched our moves."
Kally's job got him to interact closely with prominent people like actors and entertainers. He met Dr Chris Barnard shortly after his famous heart transplant. The doctor was hosted by members of the Orient Club in Isipingo.
Kally said his best memories and treasured pictures came from interactions with politicians like Monty Naicker, Yusuf Dadoo and Nelson Mandela, the three greats.
The three were also among the accused during the Rivonia Treason Trial (1963-64), which Kally attended.
"Dr Kesaveloo Goonam was an unsung hero, she didn't give a damn what people thought. Fatima Meer was another I respected.
"But Albert Luthuli, he was my man. I loved taking his picture. When he received his Nobel Peace Prize, my picture was used globally.
The reporter Kally enjoyed working with the most was Bobby Harripersadh.
"Bobby was a wangler of note. He could make difficult people talk."
The added benefit for Kally working with Harripersadh was he met the journalist's sister, Leela, who he later married.
Kally said, in his day, taking pictures was an art because there were many factors to consider before attempting to capture the perfect shot. He frowned on how easy it is to take pictures these days.
"Even a child can take good pictures with the equipment available. In my time you had to think through a picture before you shot."
With the Post and Drum being weekly and monthly publications respectively, Kally took his pictures in a way that kept them fresh.
Kally's photos stood the test of time and remain relevant. Some of his work is contained in the two books he published, The Struggle, 60 Years in Focus in 2004, and Memory Against Forgetting in 2014.