Why Are They Weeping: South Africans Under Apartheid

by David C. Turnley, Alan S. Cowell, Allan Boesak (Foreword)

192+pp. Limited to 1, 000 copies, of which this is No. 752. Signed by photographer & a photoprint of the cover inserted. Near Fine. Fine. The Fine. Foreword by Allan Boesak.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

David C. Turnley is an American photographer. He won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for photography for images of the political uprisings in China and Eastern Europe, the World Press Photo Picture of the Year in 1988 for a photo taken in Leninakan after the devastating Armenian earthquake and again in 1991 for a picture of a U.S. Sergeant mourning the death of a fellow soldier during the Gulf War, as well as the Overseas Press Club Robert Capa Gold Medal. He has been a runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize in photography four times.His twin brother is Peter Turnley.

Reviews

[Daniel Kleven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. Published in 1988, this book features a brief forward by longtime South African anti-apartheid activist Allan Boesak, a 32 page essay by New York Times journalist Alan Cowell, who had been the bureau chief in Johannesburg until the South African government asked him to leave the country due to his reporting on the apartheid regime. Finally, the heart of the book is 140 pages of photographs by David Turnley from the country, stunning, poignant photography capturing so many aspects of life in SA, white, Black, and those settings where they also mingle. Turnley was also forced to leave the country when his visa and work permit were not renewed, ending his ability to continue reporting on the situations in that country.

Crazy that literally last week South Africa was in the news due to Donald Trump welcoming white "refugees" and claiming that eminent domain is actually "white-genocide." This book was a really powerful way to get a glimpse of what life was really like under apartheid.