Noted Indian-origin S African photographer Ranjith Kally dies

Veteran Indian-origin South African photographer Ranjith Kally, who was well-known for capturing the country's anti-apartheid struggle for democracy, has died.

Kally, whose career spanned more than six decades, passed away after a short illness in northern Gauteng province yesterday, his daughter Jyoti Michael said. He was 92.

He was well known for capturing some of South Africa's prolific people, including late anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, and events involved in the country's struggle for democracy.

"Fear was not part of his profile; he was in and out of neighbouring countries, at ease covering jazz concerts or political upheaval," long-time friend and journalist colleague Farook Khan recalled in a tribute in the 'Weekly Post'.

"In 1972, he went to India and ended up on the front lines when the motherland took on Pakistan in an ugly war. He sent back dispatches every few days and Post readers were held spellbound by his offerings each week," Khan said.

Kally was known for his iconic photograph of erstwhile African National Congress leader Chief Albert Luthuli looking out of his kitchen window as he reflected on the news that he had become the first person form the African continent to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1960 for advocating non-violent resistance to the racial discrimination in South Africa by the apartheid-era white minority government.

For over seven decades, he recorded the history of all South Africans, with a special emphasis on the townships where Indians and African often lived side-by-side before being forcibly removed to separate racially-divided townships under apartheid.

Despite a lack of recognition at home, Kelly's work which was published internationally has been acknowledged by the Royal Photographic Society in London, where he was admitted as a member in 1967.

"To get a photograph, he would climb walls, trees, mountains, wade through rivers, even dive into burning buildings to capture a rescue," Khan said.

Kally received an Honorary Doctorate in Literature from the Durban University of Technology in 2013.

Among other highlights of his career that he documented in a book a few years ago were capturing the infamous treason trial of Mandela and others that ended with them being sent to Robben Island for up to 27 years before being released to lead the country to democracy.

"I have been privileged to have lived through three generations two subjected to apartheid and the latest one now free in a democratic South Africa; and to have been part of recording that," Kally had said at the launch of his book.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)