Ivor Powell

New edition: Some Afrikaners Photographed by David Goldblatt, with essays by Antjie Krog and Ivor Powell

‘An old man sits for me. A black child comes and stands next to him, looking at me with curiosity. The man turns and says to the child, ‘Yes, what are you doing here, you black rubbish?’ the insult meant and yet said with affection. How is this possible? I don’t know. But the contradiction was eloquent of much that I found in the relationship between rural and working-class Afrikaners and their black workers: an often comfortable, affectionate, even physical intimacy seldom seen in the liberal circles in which I moved, and yet, simultaneously, a deep contempt and fear of black people.’ – David Goldblatt