Bensusan Museum of Photography

During my recent trip to South Africa we found ourselves with a little downtime so I was fortunate enough to get to see a little of downtown Johannesburg. The city is really interesting and visually inspiring. Also, I was quite suprised to see so much really cool modernist architecture. I made a few portraits with the 8 x 10 which I can´t wait to get home and develop. We passed by a museum called Museum Africa and decided to investigate. Inside this building (which used to be an old fruit and vegetable market) were a bunch of exhibits on natural history, culture, and apartheid. The exhibits were all a little shoddy and in disrepair and we were starting to feel depressed about how hard things have been for the South Africans- when we came across an exhibit about photography. It was totally unexpected and turned out to be a real treat and quite a special little nook on our planet devoted entirely to the history of the camera. We walked through room after room of photographic artifacts, cameras, and exhibits. This post is dedicated to this most inspiring and thoughtful collection.