Ranjith Kally

Ranjith Kally (26 November 1925 – 6 June 2017) was a South African photojournalist. He is best known for his apartheid-era photographs of black and Indian communities in Durban, which he covered for Drum Magazine between 1956 and 1985.

Life and career Kally was born on 26 November 1925 in Reunion, a village in Isipingo on the outskirts of Durban. He was descended from indentured Indian labourers; his father and grandfather were both foremen in the nearby sugarcane fields. He left school after Standard Six, aged 14, to begin work at the R. Faulks & Company shoe factory on Gale Street, Durban, and he worked there for the next 15 years.

In 1956, Kally became a full-time professional photographer. From 1956 to 1985, excepting a three-year hiatus between 1965 and 1968, he was on the staff at the Golden City Post and Drum; those sister publications printed many of his most famous photographs, primarily taken in the Indian and Black townships around Durban. His 1960 portraits of Luthuli, taken during Luthuli's house arrest in Groutville, were circulated internationally after Luthuli won the Nobel Peace Prize, and Kally later said that they were the highlight of his career.

Exhibitions and books His work was included in group exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 1996 and the Midland Arts Centre in Birmingham in 1995.

Honours Kally was admitted to the Royal Photographic Society in 1967.

Personal life and death Kally married Leela Harripersadh, the sister of his colleague, reporter Bobby Harripersadh. At the time of his death, he was visiting his daughter, Jyoti Michael, in Johannesburg, while residing in Durban with his other daughter, Pavitra Pillay. His funeral was held in Reservoir Hills.