OD11 digital HR - Flipbook - Page 48
T
here was much serendipity
involved when I contacted
travel photographer and
guide David Rogers (1981G). Not
only was he on the board of the
Zandvlei Trust, a civic group
based in the Muizenberg-Marina
da Gama area, of which my father,
Case Rijsdijk (staff), was a founder
member, but he lives two doors
away from the house in which
I grew up. The nostalgia was
amplified when, driving into
the cul-de-sac I knew so well,
I realised the house he lived in
used to be owned by another
Bishops teacher, Hans Hoefnagels.
David and I discussed the unalloyed
joys of the South African bush, and
nerded out about photography. It
was a conversation with someone
who, to me at least, seemed
to have the perfect balance
of time away in the wild.
“I was a naughty boy at school,”
says David, a familiar refrain
I have found with some of the
school’s more interesting old boys.
“After two years in the navy I, like
ABOVE David in action. RIGHT
A Maasai boy herding goats on
the dusty plains of Amboseli,
Kenya. OPPOSITE Brunsvigia
blooming in Nieuwoudtville:
“An awesome experience
right on our doorstep.”
46 | THE OLD DIOCESAN
many of my class who did their
national service, didn’t really have
a plan. I went to UCT because
I thought I would be a teacher.
But after a year, I realised that
I didn’t want to be a teacher. So,
I finished my degree in English
and environmental science. And
again, I thought, what on earth
am I going to do now?”
Coming from a literary family –
his grandfather was the popular
historian and writer Eric Rosenthal
– David found himself, in the late
1980s, taking the first faltering
steps into a career in journalism.
“I approached publishing houses,
and Reader’s Digest hired me for
their Guide to Game Parks and
Nature Reserves of South Africa.
I was mostly doing editing and
research, and also working on
their historical books.”
But David’s restless energy
was always looking for a new
opportunity. “I figured out that
I needed to make proper money,
so I worked for a time in the
commercial world, mainly doing
industrial journalism. While I was
doing that, I kept freelancing, and
that was how I linked up with Alan
Ramsay (1960F), the publisher of
Getaway magazine. As apartheid
was being dismantled, it was a
great time to be exploring places
that had been closed to us before.”
Did the interest in travel writing
and photography emerge out of
the editorial and writing process?
“Well, we lived in the Cape, so
we didn’t get to see leopards and
lions. I didn’t go on safaris. But my
interest in photography set me
apart. I started to photograph and
write about the places I was going.”
Recalling the Photographic
Society that was active in my
time at Bishops, I ask David if
photography was something that
started while he was at school.
“Yes, and later there was also
a Photographic Club at UCT, which
I was involved in. At Bishops,
I have to mention Hugh Fynn, my
geography teacher. I was inspired
by his animated slide shows and
field trips. Truly a gifted teacher.”
