Paul Grendon was appointed by the CHR as artist in residence in 2015. He studied at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, and is a Cape Town based photographer. Grendon’s professional career as a documentary photographer began in the mid-1980s when he joined Afrapix, an independent photographic collective that played a key role in documenting apartheid and the resistance to it. He later worked with Southlight and South collective/photo agencies in South Africa and the international photo agencies, Agence France-Presse (Paris) and Select (London). He is now a contributor to the Africa Media Online photographic agency. Throughout his photographic career he has also worked extensively with non-government organisations (NGOs), both locally and internationally. His in-depth photographic body of work has concentrated on the land, its appropriation and abuse, highlighting the struggles of both urban and rural communities in the greater landscapes of the Western Cape and South Africa. He has participated in group exhibitions both locally and abroad and works as a documentary photographer and curator. He is presently archiving his photographic collection with University of Cape Town (UCT) Libraries at the UCT Visual Archives. This project is part of the UCT Libraries Special Collections and the photographs can be found online. As artist in residence at the CHR, Grendon will concentrate on his ongoing photographic project about the land.
