THIS IS WHERE I BEGIN
NEELS COERTSE

I took the two images [2006] in the Eastern Cape, previously known as the Transkei. I got the title from Antjie Krog's book Country of My Skull. One of the witnesses at the TRC was an old black man. He is illiterate, but is a poet and gave his evidence in poetic format. One of the lines is the title of my image. On a philosophical tangent I think that my model's genetic make-up will reflect the soil of his birthplace. His origins are etched on his body and in his face. That is the basis for the title.