Swartberg2021_38
The Black Mountain
What does it feel like to be somewhere? To truly be. There. In that moment. In that slither of time. What it truly feels like to be in a place is a uniquely personal experience. It’s one of life’s wonders - the individuality of feeling, the selfishness of feeling. How do you share it? This is my attempt …
The Swartberg Mountains and the hairpin bends of engineering wizardry that make it passable, inspire me to feel. These photographs represent a visual attempt to close the gap of selfishness – to attempt to share the unique feeling of a place – the vertiginous ribbons of twisted road, the smell of dust, the granite texture of the towering edifices…
Working in a digital medium, pushing the camera to its furthest capabilities to capture the luminosity of midnight within the folds of the Swartberg, as well as the highlights of a blazing Karoo sun – she removes the colour to focus on the tangible, layers, simplicity and a towering presence.
These photographs - taken over 10 years – were never meant to be a body of work, a cohesive thing. They were therapy in a existence where career and lifestyle are fused in a way that leaves little escape from the world around you. Time, though, is an interesting thing and putting the images together and editing and molding them down to a anthology I like makes me realize their importance and the interwoven heaviness of them. Somewhere along the hairpin bends of this mountain pass I found order in disorder…
***The Swartberg Mountains (Swart = “black” and Berg = “mountain” in Afrikaans) run roughly east-west along the northern edge of the semi-arid area called the Little Karoo, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Once considered impenetrable, the 27-kilometer Swartberg Pass is now one of the ways over the mountain. Its considered one of the finest mountain passes in the world: an un-tarred road that winds to the summit 1583 meters above sea level in steep zigzags and sudden switchbacks with breathtaking views at every turn. The road is supported in places by hand-packed stonewalls, a trademark of brilliant road engineer Thomas Charles Bain. The pass is a National Monument and much of the Swartberg is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.