Around the world different peoples observe Easter, Passover, Nowruz and other more ancient celebrations of the passing from the death of winter into the rebirth that is spring.
In the temperate northern hemisphere, this is mostly based on the spring equinox, but is also affected by local biology, climate and weather and the promise that seed may now be sown.
Religious celebrations like Easter and Passover certainly shadow the transition from a state of death to one of life, and it is this tradition that came to South Africa with the introduction of Christianity as both a missionary force and a colonial one.
Of course, in the south, these religious calendars do not match the northern seasons, indeed are reversed. They have nonetheless become embedded in many of the syncretic indigenous religious practices that are a combination of Christian and traditional beliefs that pre-date the arrival of Europeans. These churches cover a broad spectrum and are called Indigenous, Independent or Africanist.
I have always been attracted to the intense celebrations and rituals of the Mazioni or African Zionists. Some churches are no larger than an extended family while others like the Zion Christian Church – the ZCC – have millions of members.
In 1994, just ahead of the first democratic elections in South Africa, the leading political figures like Nelson Mandela, FW De Klerk and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi were invited (or perhaps invited themselves) to attend the ZCC celebration at Moria in the north of the country. All hoped that the leader of the church, Bishop Lekganyane would indicate a preference that might sway the millions of members to vote their way. It never happened, but the gathering of so many worshipers made for interesting images. I had over the years spent time at Moria trying to get permission to shoot freely, but it had never materialized. I had hopes that this occasion might lead to wider access. Unfortunately for me, the tightly-wound church leadership ensured journalists did not stray from official proceedings into where much more interesting stuff was happening. On one occasion, a couple of international photographers and I tried to sneak off and this led to us being detained by church police earning a reprimand. James Nachtwey kept telling the church authorities that this was ‘an international incident’ and that they could not arrest him.
I was on assignment, for Newsweek, and thus shooting color slide. As usual I had an extra body with black and white film. The shots of the ZCC ‘Makhukhu’ jumping and ‘stamping on Satan’ was shot close to midday under a burning sun with a Nikon body and a 24mm lens, which looks a bit wide in retrospect. Even the 400 ASA film did not offer enough to compensate for the shadows and highlights, as you can tell.
The images of the Zioni in the pools of water was shot in the highlands of the Eastern Free State province in 2004. This mountain is called Mautse in Sesotho and Wonderkop in Afrikaans – mountain of miracles. Religious and spiritual people of all stripes – Mazioni, Nyangas, Sangomas and others come to spend time here getting closer to God, gods and/or the ancestors. It is quite a hike, but wonderful. Santu Mofokeng has done excellent work there.
My images were shot on a combination of Canon Eos film cameras and Leica, and I am embarrassed to admit that I cooked the negatives a little in the development.
The Khoi San are known as the First People, the original inhabitants of southern Africa. In 1996, I went to spend time documenting the lives of the San soldiers and their families living at Schmitsdrif military base in the western desert region. These soldiers who served in the South African and South West African military in its war against the leftist liberation organizations in Namibia and Angola. The former soldiers were promised resettlement and citizenship, all of which were slow to come. These images are of San adherents to a Mazioni cult performing dances that incorporate their ancient trance dances. The images were shot on a combination of Canon Eos and Leica rangefinder cameras.