Andrew Meintjes died on October 5 at the age of 50 — murdered during an armed robbery at his Braamfontein, Johannesburg, studio.
Meintjes was an inventor, photographer, artist and printing legend. He was a photographer’s best friend and famous among us — a Photoshop jockey who could whip any badly exposed negative into shape. Pushing the limits, he dragged out the shadow detail and found the highlights.
We took the pictures and Meintjes painted them.
I’ll always remember his laughing face framed by wild blond grey curls lit up by a row of computer screens, sneaking a forbidden cigarette, struggling to meet some insane deadline, the pressure not stopping our ability to speak the biggest amount of crap.
Meintjes was busy on a project he called the “Brixton Moments” —hyper real photographs documenting the Brixton tower from all over Johannesburg. They were shot in large-format negatives and he was particularly proud of the slightest detail —the lettering on a street sign, a crumpled can, wispy pink clouds scattering in the fading light.
He was also a businessman who encouraged everyone to see the rand value of everything that they did. He cared about the rands and cents, but would spend his time and money on helping a friend or colleague.
He invested in people, believing in the upliftment of all South Africans. He said he was happy he was making so much money that he could afford to help struggling young photographers by printing their images for free. He recently printed an exhibition for a young photographer for a nominal fee of R700. It cost him R11 000. That was what he could and wanted to do. He mentored young photographers and trained interns from the Market Theatre Photography Workshop.
Meintjes invented his own large format camera — the Panfield, celebrated across the world. He also developed a state-of-the-art tracking rig for automotive photography and a sexy stereo amplifier with billiard-ball dials.
He leaves his wife Lorna, daughter Frances, and his business partner Andile Komanisi. He leaves photographers and photography. Hambe Kahle. — Nadine Hutton
Andrew Meintjes, born January 31 1955, died October 5 2004