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Children Running Alongside a Horse and Cart in a street near Dobsonville, Soweto, 14 July 1989.

Exhibition: Pro Gallery

AN EYE FOR FREEDOM

PHOTOGRAPHS

BY GILLE DE VLIEG

Exhibition: Text

Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaks at a mass funeral, KwaThema, Ekurhuleni, 3 November 1985

Exhibition: Pro Gallery

In 1982, Gille de Vlieg became a member of the anti-apartheid women’s organization, the Black Sash, in Johannesburg.

She participated in, and photographed, Black Sash protest ‘stands’, which entailed standing in public places holding signs and posters opposing the apartheid state, and she participated in campaigns against forced removals.

During the course of her activist work, de Vlieg took photographs to record what she saw, and to serve as evidence of the effects of violence to which she was witness.

Exhibition: Text

Jean Sinclair, founder member of the Black Sash, protesting on Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg, 1985.

Transvaal Rural Action Committee & Black Sash protest, Mafikeng

Black Sash march through Johannesburg, 1992

Black Sash member, Harriet Gavshon protesting in Johannesburg, 19 July 1988

Exhibition: Pro Gallery

Gille de Vlieg

Exhibition: Pro Gallery

In 1984, Paul Weinberg, documentary photographer and co-founder of the Afrapix photography collective, invited de Vlieg to join the organization. Her photographs were included in books and exhibitions and formed part of the weekly packages Afrapix sent overseas to draw attention to the struggle against apartheid.

Exhibition: Text