Anna Zieminski was born in Cape Town, South Africa in February 1957. She schooled at St Mary's Dominican Convent and the University of Cape Town. In 1983 and 1984 she attended part-time courses in photography at the Ruth Prowse School of Art in Cape Town. In 1985, Zieminski moved to Johannesburg to pursue a career as a freelance photographer.
In 1988 she became a member of Afrapix, a collective photo agency that played a key role in documenting the resistance to apartheid in the 1980s. During this period her photographs were widely published in the local 'alternative media' and the international press. At the same time she also worked on personal documentary projects including the 'Women's Hostel' in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg and the 'Inner City' of Johannesburg.
After Afrapix closed in 1991, she returned to Cape Town where she continued to freelance, working for a variety of national and international publications, NGOs and continued to pursue personal projects.
These included documenting the children at the 'HIV/AIDS Orphanage' at Nazareth House in Cape Town; a look at the 'Wedding Parties' photographed at Arderne Gardens in Claremont, Cape Town; and 'Illegal Migrants' from neighbouring countries.
In 1996, she took on the position of 'photo stringer' for international news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) and in 2005 was posted as photo editor for AFP in New Delhi, India where she currently resides.
Select publications
Der Spiegel; Leadership; Time; Newsweek; New York Times; The Christian Science Monitor; The Independent; The Guardian; LA Times; Boston Globe; Times of London; Le Monde; Die Zeit; Le Jeune Afrique; L'Á‰vénement ;
Movie stills
1988 'Mapantsula' directed by Oliver Schmitz and Thomas Mogotlane. Johannesburg, South Africa
Select group exhibitions
1990: 'All our Children' joint Afrapix/Vumani project. South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.
1990: 'Women's Exhibition'. Malibongwe Women's Conference, Amsterdam, Holland.
1991: 'Jo'burg City, Who's City' IDASA exhibition, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1993: 'Beyond the Hand-shake' OXFAM, Brussels, Belgium.
1995: 'People's Portraits'. South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.
1996: 'Under the Tropic'. National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, Wales.
1998: 'Ten Photographers'. A.R.T. Gallery, Paarl, South Africa.
1999: 'Lines of Sight'. South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.
2000: 'Every Child is my Child' Office of the State President. African Window Museum, Pretoria, South Africa.
2004: 'The Fatherhood Project' Photographic Exhibition (travelling) for the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)
Permanent collections
South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, Wales.
OXFAM, Brussels, Belgium.
Archives
The South African History Archive (SAHA). Historical Papers. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The University of the Western Cape/Robben Island Museum Mayibuye Archives. Cape Town, South Africa Impact Visuals Photograph Collection. The Thomas J. Rodd Research Centre, University of Conneticut, USA