marc brinkmeier
marc brinkmeier is a portrait and documentary photographer from berlin who lived in cape town, south africa, for the duration of four years. his work is focused on authentic life stories and candid situations.
especially the living of the black people in the slums was a central point of his interest.
“my camera is an alternate way to communicate.the presentation of the "rainbow united fc" exhibition is closely adjusted to the reality of a south-african township. out of necessity improvisation is born. everything is used again and alienated."
RAINBOW UNITED FC – or why it is dark in the township at night
the story
maybe it is due to the fact that only blacks live there, that kids - out of boredom - use bulbs to build crack pipes. judah said i should not stop for long at a red traffic light, rather slowly drive across. ‚these guys are hanging around at night‘. ‚these guys‘, lingering at the intersection, are shadows, waiting for god knows what. ‚sure, sure‘, i reply. this is south africa, cape town, philippi, lansdowne road corner link road where you don‘t stop at night, i know.
during day time, even the intersection does not occur to be dangerous at all. lively and chaotic, it is interspersed with colours and laid-back, animated by friendly people who occupy the scene. a 15 min drive away from town. a quick ride over the highway, take the bellville turnoff, then right, left and right again. girls, spending their days strolling in front of a salon, laugh and wave at me, as i drive past. whites rarely find their way into the black neighbourhoods. this is where ru* plays and its three teams are based.
henry saunyama, their trainer, known as judah, knows exactly what this path entails. ru* plays in the district league philippi and from there the road can only go to the top. the ultimate goal is the p.s.l. , the south african premier soccer league. it will, however, take some time until they will be able to play against their stars. what gives everybody hope is that in its first season as a registered team, ru*‘s youngest team, the under-14s, came first and the team of under-17s finished the year off in second place.
many children have never left the township and they only know ‚the other side‘ from tv. it does not come as a surprise that all of them want to become lawyers, doctors or tv presenters. reality, however, makes everyone shudder in reverence. only few seem to speak english fluently, unless they are too shy to give it a try. in this idyllic place, where each day resembles the previous one, ru* is the only challenge the youth can face up to.
