In memory of Paul Grendon
He was a prolific and profoundly talented photographer based in Cape Town and is remembered by his partner Tina Smith, his family, his friends and his community.
Paul Grendon left behind a powerful body of work, both documenting the struggle against Apartheid, and contributing to it through his work in a range of media, including public art and documentary photography.
Photo credit: South African History Online, www.sahistory.org.za.
He joined the Afrapix collective of South African documentary photographers in the early 1980s, seeking to represent the disenfranchised and to shine a light on their struggles. Some of his published material is available in the African Studies Library at Special Collections, and a collection of his earlier photography is showcased on the UCT Digital Collections platform, including the Apartheid-era documentation of the struggle of a community to regain land in Namaqualand, and the ANC campaign for the first democratic election in 1994.
Children standing in front of Matjieshuis, Namaqualand, 1987 | Paul Grendon Collection
Griekwe Sports Day, Knysna, Western Cape, 2001 | Paul Grendon Collection
Funeral of Ashley Kriel, Bonteheuwel, Cape Town, 1987 | Paul Grendon Collection
Health Sector March, Observatory, Cape Town, c. 1980s | Paul Grendon Collection
Nelson Mandela signs mural at the Alexander Sinton Secondary School, 1992 | Paul Grendon Collection
More recently, he helped establish the Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum through declaring Hostel 33 a provincial heritage site.
Paul Grendon was also a UCT Alumnus, graduating from the Michaelis School of Fine Art in 1982. In a beautiful tribute to him on social media, his friend Zackie Achmat described him as “the beautiful man with a shy smile, humble to the core, an artist committed to freedom and justice, Paul Grendon has died.”