Secrets and mystery
An image captured in South Africa, but what’s it about? When I first displayed this image on the internet, I gave few clues as to the location and its meaning. I invited readers to imagine what it was about, the title is deliberately suggestive of secrets, something hidden, mysterious, perhaps sinister? Graphically the image is a study in shapes and textures and I processed it fairly heavily to try and emphasize the textures and details present and the sense of mystery.
Cell block 4
In fact, this is a doorway within Johannesburg’s notorious ‘cell block 4’ where prisoners were held in atrocious conditions during the apartheid era. Brutality towards prisoners by guards and also fellow prisoners was commonplace and depraved. If the walls could talk! The story would be of sadness, cruelty and injustice. What remains of the prison is now part of the Constitution Hill historic site in Johannesburg which also includes the modern-day Constitutional Court of South Africa.
