Sam Nzima
Encyclopedia
Sam Nzima is the South African photographer who took what became the iconic image of Hector Pieterson
for the Soweto uprising, but struggled for years to get the copyright.
. When the farmer pressed Nzima into farm labour, he ran away after nine months of working at the farm to Johannesburg. He found a job as a gardener in Henningham. When there he had completed his high school education.
In 1956 Nzima found work as a waiter at the Savoy Hotel. At the hotel a photographer named Patrick Rikotso taught him photography skills. Nzima took portraits of workers. While at the Chelsea Hotel Nzima started reading The Rand Daily Mail
newspaper. When reading the articles of Allister Sparks
Sam became very interested in photojournalism.
While traveling he wrote a story about taking the bus and sent it with photographs to The World, a black African daily newspaper. The editor of The World was interested in Sam Nzima's work and requested that he work freelance for the paper. Then in 1968 he invited him to join as a full-time photojournalist.
On June 16, 1976, the Soweto uprising began as police confronted protesting students. Nzima took the photograph of fatally-wounded Hector Pieterson (12) on the corner of Moema and Vilakazi Streets in Orlando West, Soweto, near Phefeni High School. This image depicts an emotional scene of Hector being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubo, with Hector's sister Antoinette Pieterson (17) right beside them. After "The World" published the photo the next day, Nzima was forced to hide because of the harassment he was receiving by the security police. He moved back to Lillydale, where he was kept under surveillance by security police.
When "The World" was closed down by the government in 1978, the The Rand Daily Mail
and The Star
newspapers requested that Nzima work for them. Nzima refused in fear of the security police killing him
In 1979 Chief Minister Hudson Ntsanwisi of the Gazankulu
bantustan
made Nzima a member of the legislative assembly.
Nzima faced many years of torment while trying to publish the most famous of his pictures the Pieterson image. Most recently he was living in Lillydale, where he runs a photography school. He served on the councils of the Lillydale municipality and of the Bohlabela District.
Hector Pieterson
Hector Pieterson became the subject of an iconic image of the 1976 Soweto uprising in South Africa when a news photograph by Sam Nzima of the dying Hector being carried by another student while his sister ran next to them, was published around the world. He was killed at the age of 12 when the...
for the Soweto uprising, but struggled for years to get the copyright.
History
Sam Nzima was born in the town of Lillydale. His father worked as a labourer for a white farmer. Sam Nzima first became interested in photography when a teacher of his had shown him his camera and how to use it. While still at school, Sam bought a camera and began taking pictures in the Kruger National ParkKruger National Park
Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers and extends from north to south and from east to west.To the west and south of the Kruger National Park are the two South African provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. In the north is Zimbabwe, and to the east is...
. When the farmer pressed Nzima into farm labour, he ran away after nine months of working at the farm to Johannesburg. He found a job as a gardener in Henningham. When there he had completed his high school education.
In 1956 Nzima found work as a waiter at the Savoy Hotel. At the hotel a photographer named Patrick Rikotso taught him photography skills. Nzima took portraits of workers. While at the Chelsea Hotel Nzima started reading The Rand Daily Mail
The Rand Daily Mail
The Rand Daily Mail was a Johannesburg daily newspaper with an anti-apartheid bias that broke the news about the apartheid state's Muldergate Scandal in 1979.- History :...
newspaper. When reading the articles of Allister Sparks
Allister Sparks
Allister Haddon Sparks is a South African writer, journalist and political commentator. He was the editor of The Rand Daily Mail when it broke Muldergate, the story of how the apartheid government secretly funded information projects.Sparks later wrote a number of critically acclaimed books on...
Sam became very interested in photojournalism.
While traveling he wrote a story about taking the bus and sent it with photographs to The World, a black African daily newspaper. The editor of The World was interested in Sam Nzima's work and requested that he work freelance for the paper. Then in 1968 he invited him to join as a full-time photojournalist.
On June 16, 1976, the Soweto uprising began as police confronted protesting students. Nzima took the photograph of fatally-wounded Hector Pieterson (12) on the corner of Moema and Vilakazi Streets in Orlando West, Soweto, near Phefeni High School. This image depicts an emotional scene of Hector being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubo, with Hector's sister Antoinette Pieterson (17) right beside them. After "The World" published the photo the next day, Nzima was forced to hide because of the harassment he was receiving by the security police. He moved back to Lillydale, where he was kept under surveillance by security police.
When "The World" was closed down by the government in 1978, the The Rand Daily Mail
The Rand Daily Mail
The Rand Daily Mail was a Johannesburg daily newspaper with an anti-apartheid bias that broke the news about the apartheid state's Muldergate Scandal in 1979.- History :...
and The Star
The Star (South Africa)
The Star is a daily newspaper based in Gauteng, South Africa. It has a readership of 840 000 and is owned by Independent News & Media. It gained worldwide attention in 2006 when it published survey results according to which about twenty percent of South African men have raped a woman in...
newspapers requested that Nzima work for them. Nzima refused in fear of the security police killing him
In 1979 Chief Minister Hudson Ntsanwisi of the Gazankulu
Gazankulu
Gazankulu was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government to be a semi-independent homeland for the Tsonga people. It was carved out of the former Transvaal Province and given self-rule in 1971, with its capital at Giyani. When Apartheid was abolished in 1994, the population...
bantustan
Bantustan
A bantustan was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...
made Nzima a member of the legislative assembly.
Nzima faced many years of torment while trying to publish the most famous of his pictures the Pieterson image. Most recently he was living in Lillydale, where he runs a photography school. He served on the councils of the Lillydale municipality and of the Bohlabela District.
External links
- Sam Nzima, 1934 -
- How one photograph changed the world By Jerome Cartillier, Mail & Guardian, June 16, 2006.
- Interview