GAS FROM TRASH

Coastal Park Landfill, South Africa: Extracting Gas from Trash

Commissioned stills photographer: News24 / Content Lounge

On the edge of paradise, surrounded by a protected marine nature reserve, lies a landfill with up to 800 trucks of general waste arriving daily.

My head pounds as I climb the mountains of trash. My throat aches too, breathing in the noxious gasses.

I was expecting to leave this site feeling pure disgust but here amongst the filth, life prospers. Plants creep through, birds nest and feed their young and amongst this all, a team of dedicated scientists work daily to turn our trash into renewable energy.

50% of the gas that is released from this site is methane; a greenhouse gas that is partially responsible for global warming. This landfill has been piped with vertical and horizontal wells to suck and then pump the gas into a flaring facility where it is burnt and converted into stored electricity.

Peter Novella, Manager of Disposal for the City of Cape Town says “Essentially the train of waste coming from your home to a landfill is being used to make renewable energy, reducing the city’s reliance on fossil fuels.”

1994:The Bloody Miracle

commissioned behind-the-scenes photographer: Boondogle / Sabido Productions

In 2013 I was commissioned to shoot the stills for a documentary that took me to into the beating heart of South Africa’s rawness.

“1994: The Bloody Miracle exposes the extraordinary position faced by South Africa in the lead-up to its first democratic elections, and reveals violent struggles that toiled below the surface of the country’s political landscape in an attempt to bring South Africa to its knees. It is difficult to believe the ‘Mandela miracle’ nearly didn’t happen. In an orgy of countrywide violence, some were intent on derailing these first free elections.

In this documentary those responsible for countless deaths and widespread mayhem explain how they nearly brought about civil war. 1994: The Bloody Miracle is a chilling look at what these hard men did to thwart democracy, and at how they have now made an uneasy peace with the ‘Rainbow Nation’ in their own different ways.” Nelson Mandela Foundation.

To photograph behind the scenes on this project was not an easy thing to do. I was living in the UK at the time, 5 months pregnant with my first child. I had just decided to relocate back to South Africa and was deep in self-reflection on how and why I wanted to return to this violent country I had left so many years before. I knew I had to accept the job. It would force me into a place of discomfort I had to confront. I was conflicted by my own biases and had no idea how to start conversions with people who so radically differed from me. If I was going to live in South Africa again, I had to understand it better.

All quotes are taken directly from the feature documentary 1994: A Bloody Miracle, 2014, DVD, Directors Bert Haitsma & Meg Rickards, Sabido Productions

WILD PANTRY - TASTER

A docu-series investigating edible wild plants and their roots

Commissioned behind-the-scenes photographer: Mycelium Colab

ST JAMES PICCADILLY

St James Church, Piccadilly, London

A commissioned documentary project of this famous historical landmark built by Sir Christopher Wren in the 1680s, exploring its architecture, spirituality, arts, and inclusivity; making it a unique space for diversity and acceptance in central London.