While studying journalism at Natal Technikon in 1994, Alistair Cotton borrowed a Pentax Spotmatic for his first editorial assignment – to photograph news. Any news.
In South Africa at the time, news wasn’t hard to find.

So it’s doubtful anyone was surprised when the AWB, apparently angered by the country’s transition to democracy, blew up domestic departures at Jan Smuts International Airport. Cotton arrived in the legendary “Kalahari Ferrari”, a white Ford Cortina, to capture the news for journalism credits.

“The results weren’t particularly spectacular, but it came out just fine for journalism school – shot with the obligatory 400 ISO grainy black and white neg film. What was a bit surreal for me was that just a year or two earlier, I had been stationed as a national serviceman at the exact location of the bomb blast. In a way I felt very much a part of that story.

“The need to capture the news photographically made a deep impression on me.

“My old editors would probably be unhappy to read this now, but writing the news became something which needed to be done in order to make editorial images. The brussels sprouts you need to eat before the sweet stuff arrives.”

Cotton spent a number of years working as a journalist and photojournalist – both full time for local newspapers and freelance for larger news organisations.

“Working as a freelancer was tough. Money was tight and the country was a violent mess. I remember covering a freelance assignment in Tembisa for The Star newspaper with only one roll of film.

“When I ran out out, a kind old man gave me more – I think it was Alf Khumalo.

“Rioters trashed my private car, but I still went in the next day and managed to get a front page picture for The Star of a train on fire.

In the years that followed, Cotton moved to magazines and then online – creating images all the time for various media and business clients. In 2005, Cotton began contributing to various stock agencies. In addition to providing photographic services to various clients in numerous industries, he remains an active stock image contributor.