Nelson Mandela died one year ago today. I hadn’t planned to post anything about this anniversary. But suddenly in the middle of this afternoon, Mandela crept into my head.

I remembered how I was feeling at this time last year. (Here’s the post I wrote the day after he died.) Then I remembered that after Mandela died, I took a whole bunch of photos of a new graffiti mural that was painted in his honor. I’ve been meaning all year to do a blog post about it but never did. So, now is the time.

This mural of Mandela, depicting the famous “Shadow Boxer” photograph by Bob Gosani, was commissioned by the Maboneng Precinct just after Mandela died last year. Cape Town graffiti artist Freddie Sam started painting the mural in the days immediately following Mandela’s death. I photographed the mural a couple of times while it was in progress.

Another angle on the half-finished Shadow Boxer.

I took this a few days later, right before Mandela’s funeral, when the mural was nearly finished. Incidentally, a spectacular sculpture depicting the same photo was erected on the other side of the city a few months earlier. Here’s my post about that sculpture.

I went to the roof of the building with my friends Roy and Michelle that day, to check out the progress from above. That’s Freddie Sam (left) with his assistant, whose name I have long forgotten.

Finished. I took this photo in May 2014.

Another angle. The mural is at the corner of Staib Street and Beacon Road in the eastern CBD.

Thanks again, Madiba. We’re thinking about you today.