PHOTOGRAPHER Sam Nzima is furious about the use of his famous 1976 picture of Hector Pieterson.
He is thinking of suing Selborne College in East London.
“This is not a picture to play around with!”
An invitation was sent to the class of 2017 in which Hector Pieterson’s head was removed and the faces of Mbuyisa Makhubo and Hector’s sister Antoinette Makhubo replaced with dogs’ heads.
The school has apologised but Nzima won’t accept it.
“They made a public apology but not to me. That picture is mine. They never approached me,” he said.
“If the picture is changed into dogs, it means that we’ve gained nothing. Apartheid is far from over.”
Nzima said he was harassed by security police at the time because of the picture and his career as a journalist ended.
The school has apologised unreservedly and offered an explanation by the artist.
“The school governing body of Selborne College recognises the iconic nature of the image, which reflects a turning point in the painful history of South Africa and its people.
“While this artistic impression and function were not sanctioned by the school, the SGB recognises the offence and hurt the image has caused.”
The person who did the drawing said: “I was commissioned to do an artwork that expressed loss, grief and sadness that matrics could relate to.
“I thought it was the perfect image to use to express the pain and loss the matrics of that year were feeling, including myself.”
He said he adapted the photo into a Selborne-based artwork.
The college is often symbolised by its official symbol of a greyhound or a whippet dog. “It in no way was meant to be derogatory or disrespectful to anybody,” said the
artist.
