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Hidden Karoo
The Karoo is big sky country; a land of vast plains punctuated by flat-topped mountains, conical hills and secluded valleys, a land of scrubby bushes and hardy trees, where pioneers carved roads out of rock to set down roots in an unforgiving environment.
Here dreams are born, legends are made, and outcasts find sanctuary. It is also an ancient place, whose story is revealed through geology, fossils and artefacts, and whose human lineage predates any written history. Today, the people who inhabit it must manifest the same fortitude that sustained those who left their footprints in the primieval mud.
In Hidden Karoo you will find all this, and more. Through a series of superb photo-essays, this majestic place is revealed as a land where conservation and neglect are seldom far apart, where one town boasts splendidly restored buildings, while along a dusty road lie forgotten villages waiting for... something. Could it be a renewal, or a slow death? There’s nothing novel about the movement of people from country to city, and the Karoo mimics other parts of the world where rural areas become derelict as they are depopulated.
Hidden Karoo presents a snapshot of the region, offering a glimpse into towns and villages, farms and churches, public buildings and private homes, all against a backdrop of awe-inspiring landscapes. Through words and pictures, it prompts us to consider what was, what is and, perhaps, what might be. One constant about the Karoo is change. A book can do no more than capture a moment in time or depict fragments of a place, but in doing so, it bears witness to the past and offers the hope that there may yet be a future for this unparalleled part of our country.
Here dreams are born, legends are made, and outcasts find sanctuary. It is also an ancient place, whose story is revealed through geology, fossils and artefacts, and whose human lineage predates any written history. Today, the people who inhabit it must manifest the same fortitude that sustained those who left their footprints in the primieval mud.
In Hidden Karoo you will find all this, and more. Through a series of superb photo-essays, this majestic place is revealed as a land where conservation and neglect are seldom far apart, where one town boasts splendidly restored buildings, while along a dusty road lie forgotten villages waiting for... something. Could it be a renewal, or a slow death? There’s nothing novel about the movement of people from country to city, and the Karoo mimics other parts of the world where rural areas become derelict as they are depopulated.
Hidden Karoo presents a snapshot of the region, offering a glimpse into towns and villages, farms and churches, public buildings and private homes, all against a backdrop of awe-inspiring landscapes. Through words and pictures, it prompts us to consider what was, what is and, perhaps, what might be. One constant about the Karoo is change. A book can do no more than capture a moment in time or depict fragments of a place, but in doing so, it bears witness to the past and offers the hope that there may yet be a future for this unparalleled part of our country.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2021
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9 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 13, 2022
I make no secret of the fact that South Africa's arid interior is my 'heartland'. My father was born in the Groot Karoo, and at times lived in little dorpies like Aberdeen, Hanover, and De Aar. During the holidays, when most sensible folks head to the beach, we head to the hinterlands, and the Klein Karoo, especially the area near Ladismith and Oudtshoorn, is high up on my list of favourite destinations. When Hidden Karoo by Patricia Kramer and Alain Proust landed on my review pile, I was immediately all grabby-fingered over the book.
And for very good reason. On a long road trip through the interior, it is so easy to dismiss the landsdape when all one sees passing by in a blur of windpumps, scatterings of sun-bleached sheep, flat-topped koppies, and long stretches of what at a glance appears to be a Martian wasteland. Yet if you harbour a love the history of South Africa's dry hinterlands, or are idly curious and wish to know more, then this book will be for you. Those in the know understand that if you take the time to step off that highway, and spend a little time off the beaten track, you'll fall irrevocably in love with the land, its people, its nature, and its history.
Hidden Karoo is not only informative, but it really *is* a beautiful book, filled with stunning photographs, bits of history and architectural detail, and plenty of information to get you planning your next road trip. The authors have divided the Karoo into a variety of regions, each of which is treated in a chapter, from the Tankwa in the west, the dry interior, and all the way east to the Camdeboo.
South Africa's history is incredibly complex, the stories often painful when one examines the role colonisation and war played in shaping our nation. And by the same measure, we are left with a rich melange melding indigenous and European, in a way that is wholly unique and captures the imagination. Hidden Karoo takes you on a journey through time, to Loeriesfontein's collection of windpumps; ancient petroglyphs near Vosburg; British blockhouses of the South African War; outsider artist Helen Martins's Owl House in Nieu Bethesda... I can go on.
This book is a must-have for anyone who loves travel, loves South Africa, and wishes to dig a little deeper into some of the cultural and natural history of a region redolent with contrasts and ancient magic, and I cannot recommend it enough.
And for very good reason. On a long road trip through the interior, it is so easy to dismiss the landsdape when all one sees passing by in a blur of windpumps, scatterings of sun-bleached sheep, flat-topped koppies, and long stretches of what at a glance appears to be a Martian wasteland. Yet if you harbour a love the history of South Africa's dry hinterlands, or are idly curious and wish to know more, then this book will be for you. Those in the know understand that if you take the time to step off that highway, and spend a little time off the beaten track, you'll fall irrevocably in love with the land, its people, its nature, and its history.
Hidden Karoo is not only informative, but it really *is* a beautiful book, filled with stunning photographs, bits of history and architectural detail, and plenty of information to get you planning your next road trip. The authors have divided the Karoo into a variety of regions, each of which is treated in a chapter, from the Tankwa in the west, the dry interior, and all the way east to the Camdeboo.
South Africa's history is incredibly complex, the stories often painful when one examines the role colonisation and war played in shaping our nation. And by the same measure, we are left with a rich melange melding indigenous and European, in a way that is wholly unique and captures the imagination. Hidden Karoo takes you on a journey through time, to Loeriesfontein's collection of windpumps; ancient petroglyphs near Vosburg; British blockhouses of the South African War; outsider artist Helen Martins's Owl House in Nieu Bethesda... I can go on.
This book is a must-have for anyone who loves travel, loves South Africa, and wishes to dig a little deeper into some of the cultural and natural history of a region redolent with contrasts and ancient magic, and I cannot recommend it enough.
March 23, 2021
#hiddenkaroo - Patricia Kramer & Alain Proust
#Struik
#penguinrandomhouse
According to the introductory note by Mike Spicer the ‘Hidden’ series (other titles are ‘Hidden Cape Town’, ‘Hidden Johannesburg’ and ‘Hidden Pretoria’) aims to document our heritage by using a combination of text and pictures; in essence in the format of photo-essays. Although the other books in the series focus mostly on buildings and architecture, it would be impossible to limit the big sky country of the Karoo to photographic glimpses into towns, villages, farms, churches, public buildings and private homes; the awe-inspiring landscapes were thus included.
The book is divided into sections, each covering a distinctive area of the Karoo: ‘In the shadow of the Swartberg’ covers the area East of the N1 and centers on Prince Albert and Meiringspoort; ‘Camdeboo to Sneeuberg’ follows several mountain ranges eastward, including Graaff-Reinet, the Valley of Desolation, the Helen Martins (Owl) House in Nieu-Bethesda and Somerset East; ‘Eastern Karoo’ centers on Cradock; ‘Heart of the Karoo’ visits Richmond (home of the annual Book Festival), Hanover (with the interesting blue interior of the Dutch Reformed Church) and Colesberg; ‘Land of wide open spaces’ covers Williston, Fraserburg, Carnarvon and the legendary Art Deco Apollo Theatre in Victoria West; ‘Land of flowers and stars’ covers the Hantam, Tankwa, Roggeveld and Bokkeveld and ‘Little Karoo’ visits the feather palaces in the Oudthoorn-area and includes a photo of the porcelain toilet bowl decorated with blue flower patterns in the well-known Foster’s Manor.
The author, Patricia Kramer, has a BA (Hons) in Palaeolithic Archaeology and the photographs are the work of one of South Africa’s foremost photographers, Alain Proust.
The book is a large format, hard cover edition and consists of 304 pages; a brilliant gift for lovers of the Karoo; the land of vast plains; hardy vegetation and an unforgiving environment. I actually consider buying a coffee table to proudly display mine !
5 stars from #Uitdieperdsebek
#Struik
#penguinrandomhouse
According to the introductory note by Mike Spicer the ‘Hidden’ series (other titles are ‘Hidden Cape Town’, ‘Hidden Johannesburg’ and ‘Hidden Pretoria’) aims to document our heritage by using a combination of text and pictures; in essence in the format of photo-essays. Although the other books in the series focus mostly on buildings and architecture, it would be impossible to limit the big sky country of the Karoo to photographic glimpses into towns, villages, farms, churches, public buildings and private homes; the awe-inspiring landscapes were thus included.
The book is divided into sections, each covering a distinctive area of the Karoo: ‘In the shadow of the Swartberg’ covers the area East of the N1 and centers on Prince Albert and Meiringspoort; ‘Camdeboo to Sneeuberg’ follows several mountain ranges eastward, including Graaff-Reinet, the Valley of Desolation, the Helen Martins (Owl) House in Nieu-Bethesda and Somerset East; ‘Eastern Karoo’ centers on Cradock; ‘Heart of the Karoo’ visits Richmond (home of the annual Book Festival), Hanover (with the interesting blue interior of the Dutch Reformed Church) and Colesberg; ‘Land of wide open spaces’ covers Williston, Fraserburg, Carnarvon and the legendary Art Deco Apollo Theatre in Victoria West; ‘Land of flowers and stars’ covers the Hantam, Tankwa, Roggeveld and Bokkeveld and ‘Little Karoo’ visits the feather palaces in the Oudthoorn-area and includes a photo of the porcelain toilet bowl decorated with blue flower patterns in the well-known Foster’s Manor.
The author, Patricia Kramer, has a BA (Hons) in Palaeolithic Archaeology and the photographs are the work of one of South Africa’s foremost photographers, Alain Proust.
The book is a large format, hard cover edition and consists of 304 pages; a brilliant gift for lovers of the Karoo; the land of vast plains; hardy vegetation and an unforgiving environment. I actually consider buying a coffee table to proudly display mine !
5 stars from #Uitdieperdsebek
May 12, 2021
This is a truly beautiful portrayal of a fascinating region in South Africa. The Karoo is a vast land of limitless plains, flat-topped mountains and valleys, dry river-beds and glowing sunsets. This rugged territory of arid scrubby bushes and hardy trees touched the heart of many brave pioneers who dreamt of a future and a place to call their own.
In this unforgiving environment homes were created, farms established, towns built. This lavish coffee-table book celebrates the history of these people, the geology and ancient fossils, the unique architecture and art, the fortitude needed to carry on living there and the sadness of those that moved on. Alongside photos of neglect and dereliction are photos of glorious grand homes and awesome landscapes.
Obviously an area well loved and explored by the author Patricia Kramer and photographer Alain Proust, one of South Africa’s leading photographers, this book captures the big sky country of the Karoo magnificently. It is a book to treasure, to keep delving into for sheer pleasure and to share lives of those that went before them – capturing a moment in time.
www.africatalked.co.za/historical
In this unforgiving environment homes were created, farms established, towns built. This lavish coffee-table book celebrates the history of these people, the geology and ancient fossils, the unique architecture and art, the fortitude needed to carry on living there and the sadness of those that moved on. Alongside photos of neglect and dereliction are photos of glorious grand homes and awesome landscapes.
Obviously an area well loved and explored by the author Patricia Kramer and photographer Alain Proust, one of South Africa’s leading photographers, this book captures the big sky country of the Karoo magnificently. It is a book to treasure, to keep delving into for sheer pleasure and to share lives of those that went before them – capturing a moment in time.
www.africatalked.co.za/historical
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews