PSSA Honorary Member Alfred Kumalo
(Photograph Alfred Kumalo courtesy SAPA)
Recently, we sadly heard of the passing of the famous photographer, Alfred Kumalo.
Alfred Dukuza Mangaliso Kumalo, 82, was born on September 5th 1930 in Alexandra and matriculated at the Wilberforce Institute in Evaton. He was 82 when he died.
He began his career at the newspaper “Bantu World” in the 1950s. His interest in photography led him to start working as a photographer at the “Golden City Post”. He also worked as a freelance photographer in the USA for six and a half months.
Alfred Kumalo has long been revered as a legendary photographer. He documented the apartheid era and his pictures helped to bring international pressure on the then government. He also documented Mandela’s life as well the Soweto uprising, the Rivonia Trial etc.
In 2000, together with other distinguished photographers such as Obie Oberholzer, Dale Yudelman, Peter Magubane, Frans Lanting, Harold Carlsson, Hein Lass, Roger Ballen, Prof. John van Zyl, and others, he was invited by the Camera Club of Johannesburg to lecture at their “Photo Evolution 2000” to mark the Millennium Congress of PSSA.
The brilliant photographer was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in 2004 by the then President, Thabo Mbeki. Dave Hazelhurst, executive editor of “The Star” and a lifelong friend of Khumalo’s described him as “a man of brilliance and courage” and as “an exceptional person both as a human being and a professional photographer”. During his lifetime he made many friends amongst whom Muhammad Ali.
We are proud to say that Alfred Kumalo is a Honorary Member of PSSA.
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