Cruising Along Like...

South Africa is a country rich with history and stories to tell, not all of which are good. Under the Apartheid regime, the majority of South Africans were oppressed and denied opportunities equal to those granted their fellow, but white, countrymen.

As a white South African myself, I have become acutely aware of the transgressions of the past and their lingering effects. I am equally aware of the strides we have made as a nation towards reconciliation. There is a tension between two worlds that was once kept apart by the walls of Apartheid, now occupying the same space. The lines of social economic nature, are still there, while those of a racial nature have been done away with. This creates a tapestry uniquely South African.

I took this photo in a town called Thaba 'Nchu in the Free State province of South Africa. It is no rarity for horse carts like this one, to share the streets with BMW's and Audi's, especially in more rural towns like Thaba 'Nchu. Apon reaching the spot where I was sitting in my car, the man on the left asked why I took their photograph. I had no answer other than the belief it was one worth taking, so I showed it to them on the camera screen. They both smiled, and then simply continued their commute.

There's a juxtaposition of vastly different histories and cultures found in South Africa that one would be hard pressed to find elsewhere in equal measure. It's my home, and I love showing it to the world.

Sometimes.