May 2016

Cows on the beach? Melbourne based Photographer Christopher Rimmer documents the strange cows of Pondoland in his series - AMAPONDO

From May 2016, Christopher Rimmer’s collection Amapondo will be available at Angela Tandori Fine Art online.
 


At dawn, along the east coast of South Africa, herds of cattle trek to the beach.  Here they stand, sometimes in shallow water, before leaving at midday to be milked.  South African born and Melbourne-based photographer, Christopher Rimmer captures this anomaly in his new collection -
Amapondo.

Rimmer encountered this odd pairing of bovine on beach via a newspaper article about a shark attack.  Alongside the story was a photograph.  In the background of this shot, Rimmer spotted a bull standing alone on the beach, ambivalent to the surrounding chaos.  This bull - so oddly situated yet somehow stoic struck him.  Rimmer proceeded to spend a year stalking and photographing the bizarre cattle of Pondoland, in a process he labelled “strangely moving”.    

Why do the cattle routinely return to the beach?  No one knows.  The Xhosa people, who occupy the cattle’s turf imbue these animals with spiritual weight - naming one “the bird that does not rest”.  Stare at Rimmer’s expansive photographs and the subject stares back, tail whipping in the salty breeze.  These shots strike a balance between quirky and surreal - leaving us to ask why, like the tide, the Nguni cattle are pulled back to sea.  

This year Rimmer was nominated by US magazine Art Business News as a ‘Top Artist to Watch’.  After exhibiting in the US and South Africa, Amapondo will be launched in Australia at Angela Tandori Fine Art online from May 2016.

For any sales or media inquiries, or to get in touch with the artist, contact us on 0419 301 279 or send us an email at collect@angelatandorifineart.com