Featuring the work of traveler and photographer Linda Steffens
On October 28, we hosted our first-ever photography exhibit in a different kind of “Harriet’s Corner”: a special space in our Boston headquarters dedicated to both our travelers and to a living history of Grand Circle. (You can learn more about this new Harriet’s Corner here.) Our featured artist was Linda Steffens, an 8-time traveler who visited South Africa on our Highlights of South Africa vacation.
Taken at the Esitjeni Primary School and Orphanage, a Grand Circle Foundation site in South Africa that is also featured on OAT’s South Africa: Tribal Cultures & Kingdoms adventure, Linda’s photos are haunting portraits of the children she met during her visit. Some of the children are smiling and playful, others are cautious and pensive, but all attest to the harsh reality facing some of South Africa’s youth: In a country devastated by violence and AIDS, children are growing up much too soon—and without benefit of their parents’ guidance.
Because only our travelers living in the Boston area were able to attend this special exhibit, we’ve included a sampling of Linda’s work below—as well as a few words about the artist herself.
About Linda, in her words
“I began studying photography when I retired and fell in love with the art form so much so that I am now teaching it to others. I also started traveling overseas which I had long wanted to do. Combining these two interests resulted in a whole new direction for me. As I continued traveling with my camera, I began to realize how much I loved meeting people from all over the world. I realized, too, that my favorite photos were the portraits of these wonderful human beings. In each face I saw the universality of the human condition and hoped that my photography would highlight the similarities that exist in people of every race, gender, age, and nationality. With that hope is the wish that my photography will remind all of us that ‘We are the World.’”
Linda’s work
“Mother and Child”
“South African Children”
“Scamp”
“South African Orphans”
“Togetherness”
“South African Orphan”
You can experience South Africa—and meet the children of Esitjeni yourself—on our Highlights of South Africa
vacation.