"If it doesn't move, paint it white" is the go-to decorating advice that anybody in Cornwall will give you, as in many other coastal fishing communities around Europe where whitewashed homes cling to the cliffs.
These directions never made it to Bo Kaap it would appear.
Bo Kaap is a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa; a Muslim community traditionally inhabited by the Cape Malay descendents of freed slaves. The story goes that slaves lives were devoid of colour - they had to wear white, lived in white rooms and as you'd expect life wasn't particularly vibrant. When that horrendous chapter of human history eventually ended and the slaves were freed they rebelled against the years of monochromicity and got busy with the paint. The result is a community where every street is a full on visual overdose - and a photographers dream.
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