Rosebank - “Gimme Hope Jo’anna”
August 19, 2024
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♨️ Monday August 19, 2024
◄ WELCOME TO ROSEBANK ►
“To me photography is part of life and any photograph worth looking at twice is a reflection of life, of reality, of nature, of people, of the work of men from art to war.”
- Ernest Cole.
We have just got out of the big bed, drawn the curtains of the large bay windows in our hotel room at the Holiday Inn in Rosebank perched at an altitude of 1,638 m, right in the geographical center of Johannesburg. The sun is still low and playing with the mist in the treetops of the Melrose district, between Illovo and Houghton Estate.
On the left, a building of modern architecture dominates the urban forest (Johannesburg is one of the largest urban forests in the world). It is none other than the new AngloAmerican De Beers group headquarters on Oxford Road. They fled Marshalltown for the old business district, the traditional headquarters of the company. It’s true that “this architectural masterpiece looks like a giant ship made of black cut glass diamonds” as I read in the Daily Maverick (quote from Tony Jackman), the South African online daily newspaper founded at the end of October 2009, independent and influenced by American news sites such as Slate, The Daily Beast and The Huffington Post.
We know that our first day in Johannesburg is going to be busy and, due to a late takeoff from Reunion Island last night or rather should I say in the middle of the night, we kindly asked our local guide to pick us up an hour after the agreed time… So we are still enjoying this beautiful morning light (and bed…) before our first and hearty South African breakfast as “newlyweds” on our honeymoon!
In fact, with the greatest joy, we received the incredible blessing of our entire lives two days ago! At this precise time, we were going to the town hall then to the church to celebrate our wedding. The unforgettable reception that followed at Lodge Tamarin even began in the heart of the establishment’s real South African Boma, it was already a wonderful taste of the fantastic honeymoon in South Africa and here we are! To be honest, we are still on cloud nine and we are missing a few hours of sleep…
Down on the Oxford road, the traffic is rapidly intensifying and already a man is moving with his blower in front of the hotel… It is time for us to have breakfast a few floors below, and at the same time, to quickly rediscover the language of Shakespeare, catapulted as we are to the heart of “The Wild City”… The Nelson Mandela Foundation is not so far away (between 16th and 17th avenues at 107 central street houghton )…
But, first of all, we will have to go to the emblematic Rosebank Mall right next door to buy local sim cards and possibly long-sleeved t-shirts because the announced temperature correlates well with the season and the altitude of Jozy!
Despite a generous August sun, it is still a little cold outside, we go back to take shelter, in fact, no hotel guest has thought of having breakfast on the terrace, not even the regulars it seems… Two enormous sunflowers sit on our table but what really brightens up this beautiful day is just in front of me : the love of my life, my wife, smiles at me!
Some images now come back to me from my four years studying and travelling in South Africa precisely 30 years ago from 1993 to 1997. Strangely, it seems like it was yesterday! However, happiness is now and will always be: in front of me smiles the fantastic woman I have just married and who knows my heart better than anyone !
After this invigorating breakfast and several much-needed cups of coffee, we head to the Rosebank Mall. It’s cold but as we’re running, no time to catch the flu… Indeed, our friendly guide won’t be long and we need these SIM cards and warmer clothes before his arrival. I see all the commercial brands that I knew well 30 years ago passing by including Photo First of course!!! Here I am back in the country and even if this time I am not in Kwazulu-Natal ( Durban ) but rather in the heart of the great Jozy, i feel so good and my “young” bride is not left out!
We walk a little in the heart of the Mall now (after these few purchases at a run), and suddenly, an air of old New York is discovered right in front of us! Here is the famous “Proud Mary” which Patricia from Natondi Tours (our local agent and good friend) highly recommended to us! We are invited to Sandton this evening but I hope we will have the opportunity to have dinner here during a future stay. This is already a good reason to come back but I already know that there will be many more!
But for now, it’s time to return to the hotel and prepare ourselves for a very busy day of discovering Jozy, Frederic our local guide will join us in less than an hour! To be continued in the next post…
ℹ️ Latest news:
Speaking of good reasons to come back to South Africa, I didn’t think I said it so well! Six months after this trip, we went to the cinema to see the excellent documentary “ Ernest Cole Photographe ” by Raoul Peck which echoes that of Jurgen Schadeberg (another emblematic figure of South African photography) called “ Ernest Cole ” released on January 1, 1999. Jurgen Schadeberg was one of the founding members of the magazine DRUM ! Here you will find an excellent article on the origins and history of DRUM magazine by Tebogomapine.
And precisely, a 15 min drive from here via the Oxford road / M9 is an incredible shop entirely dedicated to the iconic DRUM magazine at 44 STANLEY, 44 Stanley Ave, Braamfontein Werf.
P.S. A full article on photographer Ernest Cole will soon be available on our site !
