Some evidence of things seen: Children of South Africa by Tutu, Desmond; Sachs, Albie; Manyelo, Asnath; Smal, Kobus; Dhlabu, Mmeiwa; Msimanga, Jane; Smit, Lizelle
Some evidence of things seen: Children of South Africa
A Profound Photographic Witness to Childhood, Systemic Inequality, and Survival Under Apartheid
A Profound Photographic Witness to Childhood, Systemic Inequality, and Survival Under Apartheid
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Some evidence of things seen: Children of South Africa
- Photographer & Compiler: Paul Alberts
- Contributing Authors: Desmond Tutu, Albie Sachs, and Nelson Mandela (Introduction)
- Interviewees & Oral Contributors: Johnny Mmeiwa Dhlabu, Kobus Smal, Lizelle Smit, Jane Msimanga, Asnath Manyelo, and Pauline Kuzwayo
- Publisher: Open Hand Trust, Rivonia / Johannesburg
- Publication Date: 1997
- ISBN-13: 9780620215817 (ISBN-10: 062021581X)
- Edition Details: First Trade Softcover Edition. Extra-illustrated copy featuring the original publisher’s official media press release and the professional CV of photographer Paul Alberts inserted.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium heavy-gauge illustrated card wrappers (perfect-bound softcover).
- Physical Format: Tall Quarto (4to), 252 pages. Richly illustrated with high-fidelity, duotone/monochrome social documentary photographs printed across heavy-gauge art stock. Includes comprehensive statistical data matrices compiled by UNICEF and the National Children’s Rights Committee.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good (VG)
- Exterior / Wraps: The original illustrated card covers are clean, structurally sound, and flat. Displays only very slight, superficial signs of handling and micro-friction along the edges, entirely consistent with meticulous archival storage. The spine remains perfect, upright, unbent, and completely uncreased.
- Interior: The text block is exceptionally tight and robustly bound. Internal pages and photographic plates are clean, bright, and completely free of reader notes, text underlining, highlights, or dog-ears.
- Provenance & Ephemera: Outstanding collector's provenance state. Includes the rare, loosely inserted original printed press release distributed during the book’s 1997 launch announcement, alongside the official curriculum vitae (CV) detailing Paul Alberts' historical exhibitions and photographic achievements.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published by the Open Hand Trust in 1997, Some evidence of things seen: Children of South Africa is a monumental milestone in South African social documentary photography. Spanning more than two decades of undercover and independent archival work from the mid-1970s through the transition to democracy, photographer Paul Alberts captures the stark visual realities, widespread neglect, and institutional abuse inflicted upon children under the apartheid regime.
Rather than looking at childhood as a detached concept, the book features a historic introduction by Nelson Mandela, extensive texts by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Constitutional Court Judge Albie Sachs, and deep-dive oral interviews with youth from various socio-political backgrounds. By contrasting raw township and rural imagery against the institutional reports of UNICEF, this moving pictorial essay serves as a profound historical indictment and a timeless tribute to the resilience of South Africa's youth.
Author Profile: Paul Alberts
Paul Alberts (1946–2010) was a pioneering South African documentary photographer, publisher, and anti-apartheid cultural worker. Awarded the prestigious Medal of Honour by the South African Academy of Science and Arts, his career was entirely dedicated to social realism. Through landmark photographic monographs like Children of the Flats (1980) and The Borders of Apartheid (1983), Alberts used his lens not merely for artistic expression, but as an uncompromising tool of political witness and historical record.
High-Value Search Phrases: Some evidence of things seen Paul Alberts, Children of South Africa 1997 book, rare apartheid social documentary photography, Nelson Mandela Desmond Tutu Open Hand Trust, collectible Africana photo essay softcover.
