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