Alfred Dukuza Mangaliso Kumalo was born on September 5th 1930. At an early age, he developed an interest in drawing which would later lead him to become a photographer with a highly discerning eye. Kumalo started photography as a way of freezing moments in time for visuals he wanted to draw and then, “I was gripped by the drama of the visual impact of photography,” he says of his visual stray into the world of photography from drawing. In 1951 as a freelancer for Bantu World, he began some serious photography and has never looked back. Amongst the publications that have benefited from his work are: Drum, Rand Daily Mail, Golden City Post, The Star, New York Times, Newsweek and Time Magazines.
Background
Politically, Kumalo witnessed through the lenses of the camera such milestones as the Women’s March in 1956 led by Lillian Ngoyi and Helen Joseph; the Treason and Rivonia trial which featured some of South Africa’s highly-known political activists such as Mandela, Sisulu and Govan Mbeki; Sharpeville massacre; Soweto uprisings; the banning of Albertina Sisulu, Winnie Mandela and younger leaders such as Steven Biko, Mamphele Ramphele; the first inauguration in 1994,and the ten years of democracy celebration. Kumalo documented and owns exclusive photographs of Nosekeni Mandela, the mother of South Africa’s most famous prisoner, who died in 1965, a year after the sentencing of her son to life imprisonment.
He also covered former President Thabo Mbeki from the early seventies in Swaziland, Mozambique and other countries. Other political figures that Kumalo has photographed include Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela, Robert Sobukwe, Robert Resha, Barney Pityana, Chris Hani, Robert and Edward Kennedy, Helen Joseph, Hendrick Verwoerd, Pik and Pieter Botha, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Coretta Scott-King and Frederick de Klerk.
Over the decades Kumalo has had the opportunity to document national and international artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn, Count Bassie, Sammy Davies jnr, Miles Davis, Miriam Makeba, Dolly Rathebe, Dorothy Masuku, Thandi Klaasen, Sibongile Khumalo, PJ Powers, Johnny Clegg, Murray Campbell, Louis Armstrong, Gerry Mulligan, & Frank Sinatra.
In sports, Kumalo has covered international and local legends including Pele, Eusebio, Stan and Jomo Sono, Kaizer Motaung, Muhammed Ali, Enoch Nhlapo, and ‘Baby Jake’ Matlala among others.
Awards
From the 50s, Kumalo started winning awards for his work. Encyclopedia Britannica and World Press are just some of the publications that have conferred awards on him. His most memorable award was the one he won in 1963 when he won a car and a caravan in a competition that had 1,900 contestants. It was particularly memorable because, after winning several awards, he had begun doubting his own talent and entered the competition using his African name and he won. In recent years, he has won the Millennium Award Picture, bestowed with South Africa’s Order of Ikhamanga (Silver), the Vodacom Life Achievement Award and the Nat Nakasa Award.
Exhibitions
Kumalo has had several exhibitions nationally and internationally.
Some of his work has been exhibited in the U.S.A., particularly at the United Nations and Europe where the Western world got a sample of one of South African photography’s living legends. He also exhibited in Ethiopia, Kenya, Russia, The Middle East, Rome and several times in London.
Alf Kumalo’s images are available for sale at the gallery, The Cow Artworks in Parkhurst.
