An interview with George Hallett

Abstract

The distinguished South African photographer George Hallett speaks about his childhood, schooling, career in photography, exile in Europe and return to South Africa. Born in District Six and raised in Hout Bay, Hallett was introduced to the world of politics, literature and art by the novelist Richard Rive, who was his high school English teacher, and by the poet James Matthews and artist Peter Clarke, who became friends, as well as mentors. Hallett began his photographic career in Cape Town, but, struggling under the restrictions of life under apartheid, soon left for London. In Britain and, later, France and the Netherlands, he established himself as a leading photojournalist and fine art photographer. After brief stays in the United States and Zimbabwe, he returned to South Africa to photograph the 1994 elections for the African National Congress.