Diesel and Dust
Obie Oberholzer
(Jacana)
Obie Oberholzer’s latest book is a collection of images and words on travels through Southern Africa, North Africa and the Middle East. This masterful raconteur exhibits his images alongside brief ramblings that bring depth and understanding to his pictures.
“Diesel and Dust is a philosophy. The smell of diesel and dust early in the morning give me a feeling that I’m far away, and this book is about that – interesting people and places; about wonderings and passings through.”
Honest and uncensored, the book documents the encounters of a South African traveller as he explores the landscapes and people of his own country, and the similarities and differences he discovers abroad. His landscapes are endless, undisturbed by pretension, and his images embody a strong sense of his philosophy.
“Freedom is not quite knowing where you are going. Freedom is writing ‘freedom’ in the dust on your dashboard.”
Perhaps stemming from his unapologetic demeanour, Oberholzer has a knack for seeking out individuals who provide unexpected perspectives and anecdotes. He exchanges stories of the polygamy of rulers from the past and present with Mohammed Ahmed Khalifa in Yemen, and photographs Colonel Jan Breytenbach who exposed the illegal trafficking of ivory by the old SA Defence Force during the 1970s and 1980s.
Deon Venter, a convict-turned-artist from Hondeklipbaai who has a dog named Picasso, stands outside his white caravan, and in Axum in Ethiopia Oberholzer meets Gelilah, a waitress whom he dubs “The Queen of Sheeba”.
Oberholzer, 64, remarks how “a sense of humour” is the best travelling companion, and his text is full of wit and laughter. The ironic titles of some of the images provide a playful undertone to the author’s work, suggesting that he does not take himself too seriously.
However, the subtext underlying the central narrative of the book is far more profound than the lighthearteness may mislead one to expect. Often the author’s mocking disillusionment verges on a frustrated pessimism about confrontations with social inequality and poverty.
Diesel and Dust is a story of many journeys to many places, through many memories, and many eras. The text is littered with historical insight that generates a holistic context in which his images exist, not only on the page, but in conversations with the photographer and the thoughts behind the lens.
“For the hunter of images it is often the search in emptiness that brings forth lines and shapes of delight.”
Oberholzer’s images are rich in textures, patterns and colours and his skilled lighting of images at night ensures a consistency of visual pleasure across the book.
This man who sleeps in cemeteries in the back of his bakkie is not a typical travel photographer. His images are all the more compelling for being distilled to a sincere simplicity.
“Sometimes a photograph is not just a photograph,” he says.
If a picture speaks a thousand words, Oberholzer’s speak a thousand more. - Sunday Argus