The Township Tourist

The South African townships are beautiful, unique and definitely worth the visit!  The joy and positivity among the people are incredible and heart-warming. They have managed to make the best of their situations, living each day with a smile on their face and a heart full of hope. They set an example for the rest of the world to follow with their sense of community and Ubuntu.

Visiting their homemade breweries where they create beer purely from boiled water and sorghum is a must! The experience is unforgettable, sitting inside the shack, with everyone contributing a little bit of money until the price of the beer is paid and then passing a rather large can of beer around and enjoying a few minutes of pure simplicity and good people.

The children living in the townships are filled and are over pouring with laughter, energy and imagination! Living in poverty, they still manage to create their own toys, games and futures. They are simply beautiful!

We, as the photographers had some fun experimenting with panning and creating movement in photographs. But in the end of the day, the joy of photography and being a photographer is being able to capture a single authentic moment and sharing it with you.

We also visited the beautiful lady’s in the townships preparing the famous “Smileys.” Even though the whole concept seems to be a bit bizarre and well, weird to some of us… It is somewhat beautiful and is, in the end of the day, part of the township culture. Personally, it makes me happy to know that no part of the animal goes to waste. And you never know, you might enjoy it so maybe it is worth a taste!

This is definitely a tour worth doing as it does not only improve your photographic skills but it opens your minds and hearts to another part of society and how they live. We need to understand South Africa and it’s diverse people and we can start by visiting our unique South African townships and its beautiful people.

Photos and content by Demi Szucs