Cleaning Up the Brixton Cemetery
On Sunday I stopped by a cleanup event at the Brixton Cemetery, hosted by the Friends of Johannesburg Cemeteries. The volunteer group regularly organizes cleanups at different cemeteries around the city, picking up rubbish and restoring the older headstones. A...
The Ruins of Rose Road: Photo Bonanza
The Ruins of Rose Road The moment I saw the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation announce this tour — even before I read the description — I signed up. I had never heard of Rose Road. But the tour’s title was so evocative…My mind’s eye...
The Dramatic Story of Rand Steam Laundries
Once upon a time, about 130 years ago, a group of Zulu men called the AmaWasha ran a business washing clothes beside a stream, on the outskirts of a ramshackle mining town called Johannesburg. The water in this stream was particularly good for clothes-washing. Soon a...
JoburgPlaces and the Restoration of Somerset House
About three years ago, I was roaming around downtown Joburg on a drizzly Sunday afternoon with some photographer friends. As we walked along Fox Street near the corner of Rissik Street, just behind Gandhi Square, we noticed an open doorway and walked inside. I...
Heather Mason
I’m an American writer/blogger/photographer living a quirky life in Johannesburg. Follow along as I explore Johannesburg, South Africa, and the rest of the world.
