Sam Nzima (8 August 1934 in
Lillydale,
Bushbuckridge Local Municipality
Bushbuckridge Local Municipality is a Local municipality in the Ehlanzeni District of Mpumalanga in South Africa. Commercial farming, which consists of pine /bluegum plantations, tobacco, cotton, sub-tropical fruits and vegetables is practised ...
– 12 May 2018 in
Nelspruit
Mbombela (also known as Nelspruit) is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River (Mpumalanga), Crocodile River, Mbombela lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, ea ...
)
was an South African photographer who took what became the widely-circulated and influential image of
Hector Pieterson
Zolile Hector Pieterson (19 August 1964 – 16 June 1976) was a South African schoolboy who was shot and killed at the age of twelve during the Soweto uprising, when the police opened fire on black students protesting the enforcement of teach ...
for the
Soweto uprising, but struggled for years to get the copyright.
Early life
Sam Masana Nzima was born in the town of
Lillydale in
Transvaal Province
The Province of the Transvaal ( af, Provinsie van Transvaal), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Trans ...
(now
Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...
). His father worked as a labourer for a white farmer. Sam Nzima first became interested in photography when his teacher showed him his camera and how to use it.
[ While still at school, Sam bought a camera and began taking pictures in the ]Kruger National Park
Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from ea ...
.[ When the farmer pressed Nzima into farm labour, he fled to Johannesburg after nine months of working on the farm. He found a job as a gardener in Henningham. While working there he completed his high school education.
]
Career
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'' was a South African newspaper published from 1902 until it was controversially closed in 1985 after adopting an outspoken anti-apartheid stance in the midst of a massive clampdown on activists by the security forces. The ...
'' newspaper. When reading the articles of Allister Sparks
Allister Haddon Sparks (10 March 1933 – 19 September 2016) was 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 sec ...
Sam became very interested in photojournalism.[
While travelling he wrote a story about taking the bus and sent it with photographs to '']The World
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
'', a black African daily newspaper.[ 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.][ He moved back to Lillydale, where he was kept under surveillance by security police.]The Star
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' newspapers requested that Nzima work for them; Nzima refused in fear of the security police killing him.
Post-journalism career
In 1979, Chief Minister Hudson Ntsanwisi of the 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 located in both the Northern Transvaal, now Limpopo province and Eastern Transvaal, now Mpumalanga ...
bantustan
A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now N ...
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. Until his demise, he lived in Lillydale, where he managed a photography school. He served on the councils of the Lillydale municipality and of the Bohlabela District.][
]
Legacy
Nzima would obtain the copyright to his photograph, after many years of trying, when the Argus Newspaper Group, that owned ''The World'', was sold to the Independent Group.[ ''Time'' Magazine regards Nzima's famous image as one of 100 influential images of all time.][
]
References
External links
Sam Nzima, 1934 -
How one photograph changed the world
By Jerome Cartillier, ''Mail & Guardian'', June 16, 2006.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nzima, Sam
1934 births
2018 deaths
People from Bushbuckridge Local Municipality
Tsonga people
South African photographers
20th-century photographers