Walking Downtown Joburg With Gerald

I recently spent a Friday walking around downtown Joburg with Gerald Garner. Gerald needed a few photos taken for his new book, Johannesburg 2020 and Ahead. So we walked the city from end to end – nearly nine kilometers total, with a couple of Uber rides mixed in – chatting about recent developments in town as Gerald pointed out the different buildings and scenes he needed me to shoot.

Heather’s car at Thunderwalker in downtown Joburg
My car in front of the Thunderwalker, Gerald’s downtown tourism and events venue on Gandhi Square.

Gerald and I have worked together for years; many of the places we visited were places I’ve been before on Gerald’s JoburgPlaces tours. But it’s been a while since I really dug in to the city like this, and I’m still seeing everything with fresh eyes after the hard lockdown. I loved every minute of the walk – it was one of my favorite days of the year so far.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

Historic building in downtown Joburg
A historic building on Eloff Street.
Mangos for sale on Kerk Street
We walked the length of the Kerk Street Market – downtown Joburg’s pedestrianized outdoor shopping street – and I took tons of pictures of the different vendors. This part of town looks fantastic right now.
Kerk Street sign in downtown Joburg
Rea Vaya station at the corner of Kerk and Rissik.
Fruit for sale on Kerk Street
I could spend a whole day photographing fruit displays on Kerk Street.
Restaurants and shops at FNB Bank City, on a pedestrianized section of Simmonds Street. Bank City is another beautifully renovated part of downtown – I need to devote a future blog post to it.
Beyers Naude Square, Joburg
The "Democracy Is Dialogue" sculpture, by Lawrence Lemaoana, in Beyers Naude Square.
Rand Club
The Rand Club. I’m always trying to photograph this building head-on and it never looks good because it won’t quite fit into the frame of my wide-angle lens. Thanks to Gerald for suggesting we try photographing it from the side.
Gandhi Square
Mid-day in Gandhi Square.
Coffee shop in Little Addis
Coffee shop in Little Addis, downtown Joburg’s Ethiopian neighborhood.
Busy scene on Jeppe Street
Busy scene on Rahima Moosa Street, formerly Jeppe Street, in Little Addis.
Jewel City, downtown Joburg
Jewel City is a new residential/retail development – just finished as lockdown was ending – next to Maboneng. I walked through Jewel City briefly a few months ago but hadn’t been back since it officially opened. I can’t believe how great it looks.
Banger of a mural by Nard Star. Jewel City has become the best place in town for street art photography.
School girls in Jewel City
Sassy school girls.
James XVI Ethiopian
James XVI, my favorite Ethiopian in Joburg. I tried to just say hi to James in passing, but he would not let us go without serving us coffee first. It was great to see James again after many months away.
Gerald at Bertrand in Maboneng
We finished our walk in Maboneng. Here’s Gerald enjoying a mineral water at Bertrand Café.

Thanks for the walk, Gerald.

If you’d like to hear more about Gerald’s new book (I’m personally very excited to see it), there’s a launch at Thunderwalker next Thursday, 10 December, at 6:30 p.m.