A reader recently left a link and comment–on one of most unexpectedly popular posts: Die Swart Luiperd–about her experience working as a model and actress in the Afrikaans photo-novels.
Dianne (above, right) was featured in the “Tessa” books (among others) about a bikini clad…spy? PI? enforcer? These bikini-babe titles (particularly the Tessa books) were derogatorily referred to as “Poes Boekies” (which translates exactly as you’d guess) by the readers.
She gives this account of a typical shoot:
Most of the filming was done at Republican Press in Mobeni, Durban. They had a separate section which was used for photo stories and they had various “sets” arranged. We had a jail, operating theatre, doctors office etc.
On the whole, it only took a morning to shoot the entire book. We used to get there by 08h30 and were finished between 12h00 and 14h00 depending on your part in the book. [We would] bring 3 day outfits, 1 evening outfit and a bikini [and] all of us were quite adept at changing in the back of the Combi!…. It was a good laugh to go through the books when they were published and see all the mistakes that were made!
Visit Dianne’s page. She also mentions an intriguing sounding documentary entitled “The Glow of White Women”:
which looks at white women in the Dark Continent and focuses on the forbidden sexual desires of blacks and whites under Apartheid…. The film is put together using images from vintage magazines, the covers of pulp novels, anatomical drawings and family photographs, as well as archive news footage, South African tourism promotional films and commercials for skin whitening creams.
I’d be curious to see this if anyone can point me at a torrent.
Thanks for the info and pics Dianne!
Hang Fire Books 