Along the Way: The real Durban

What happens if you take a writer, a photographer and an artist, give them 30 days and set them free in the inner city of Durban?

Along the Way: 10 lives, 10 portraits. An intimate book of photographic portraits and stories from 10 different people living in Durban. From a priest to a retired whaler, a car guard to a traditional tailor, these are real-life portraits written and photographed beautifully. But without trying to blur the truth — no easy task.

Don’t believe me? Check out www.alongtheway.co.za to read about the people who shared chunks of their lives to make up this book. Best of all, it’s for sale (for only R40) and all the proceeds go to an 11th person who was going to be included in the book. Her husband and daughter died just before going to print, so now she’s homeless and pregnant, and obviously in need of any help she can get …

The idea came from the Cascoland 2008 project, held in Durban this March (go to www.cascoland.com for details — what a cool project!) and took a lot of hard work and ingenuity. I love that this trio has gone into sections of the city that are usually ignored and given glimpses into real life there.

I’ve seen many books in my time, but rarely one as full of soul as this one.

Five stars for Along the Way!