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Thursday, 20 August 2026

The Capital at Eye Level

Jacques Nelles photographs the city from the pavement up: monuments, pigeons, taxis, and the people who simply use the place while the arguments about it carry on above their heads.

A bronze statue on a plinth almost hidden inside a dense flock of pigeons rising into a blue sky.
01 / 16 · The square belongs to the birdsJacques Nelles
Pigeons gather in the foreground of Church Square, with the fenced Paul Kruger statue and a 'free education now' banner behind them.
02 / 16 · Church Square regularsJacques Nelles
A person leaps with arms raised as pigeons scatter into flight, statue and government building behind.
03 / 16 · The pigeon whispererJacques Nelles
A single person crosses an empty multi-lane street at a traffic light, tall city buildings and blue sky behind.
04 / 16 · Empty streetJacques Nelles
A man walks along an empty pavement past a building signed Opera, one pigeon in the air.
05 / 16 · Past the operaJacques Nelles
A person wrapped in a red and white striped blanket walks through a concrete colonnade past a parked bicycle.
06 / 16 · Stripes in the rainJacques Nelles
Open umbrellas beside a white minibus taxi in the rain, shopfront signage above.
07 / 16 · Rank in the rainJacques Nelles
A young man in a peaked cap with a metal badge and a silver jacket looks directly at the camera on a street.
08 / 16 · Portrait in a peaked capJacques Nelles
A man walks past a red building carrying a large bundle of grass brooms across his shoulder.
09 / 16 · Tools of the dayJacques Nelles
Ramaphosa in the trash bin with a blue gazebo over a street stall on an empty pavement, an older building behind.
10 / 16 · Binned portraitJacques Nelles
A chicken crosses a street in front of a man pulling a wheeled suitcase, cars and shopfronts behind.
11 / 16 · CrossingJacques Nelles
Elevated view over the roofs of yellow minibus taxis, a crowd marching along the road behind them.
12 / 16 · Taxi signs and a marchJacques Nelles
A Khoisan man stands with both arms outstretched holding a sun flower, terraced gardens and a government building on the hill behind.
13 / 16 · Offering at the statueJacques Nelles
Two men move in the middle of an empty street, one in a yellow shirt, trees and buildings behind.
14 / 16 · Intersection theatreJacques Nelles
Reflection of aapartment building windows in car window.
15 / 16 · ReflectionJacques Nelles
People gathered along a low brick wall, one climbing over it, several wearing face masks, blue sky above.
16 / 16 · At the wallJacques Nelles