Documentary Photographs

Thursday 22 April was a busy day on site at Hostel 33. In addition to glazing the windows, academic and photographer Svea Josephy joined the Museum team, to photograph the interiors of the hostel in detail as part of the on-going documentation process. Equipped with studio lights, tripods, cables and other high-spec photographic equipment, Svea was able to capture a series of photographs which reveal the interiors of the Hostel in detail. Hours were spent in this process, carefully working in the cramped conditions of the interior spaces of the hostel in setting up lighting and capturing shots which will provide the museum with a substantial photographic record of the space – as it is in April 2010 – which has been previously difficult to do with poor light. These images will form part of the Conditional Report prepared by the architects and Renchius van der Merve and the Heritage Report prepared by the Museum. Photographs will be related and annotated in detail along with the on-going large scale drawings that Renchius is preparing to accurately record the materiality of the lived space of the hostel.


Svea Josephy squeezes into a tight corner to capture the detail of Hotel 33's interior. Photograph: Noeleen Murray.

Once again Svea’s has given LMLM freely of her time, effort and creative expertise spent in doing this which is really appreciated by the Museum - she previously contributed to the Lwandle Designers Exhibition – and we are excited to have this invaluable resource to assist us in the restoration process.

Thanks are also due to Kadephi Mtiya's kind assistance in allowing us to use the electrical connection from his home across the road, as Hostel 33 awaits being rewired and reconnected to electrical supply by the City of Cape Town.