Oscar Pistorius awaits the start of court proceedings in the Pretoria Magistrates court. Pistorius, a double amputee who became one of the biggest names in world athletics, was applying for bail after being charged in court with shooting dead his girlfriend, 30-year-old model Reeva Steenkamp, in his Pretoria house.
Siphiwe Sibeko: “We were given strict orders by the court not to take photographs of anything or anyone while the magistrate was in the courtroom. This limited our access to Oscar and made it difficult to take good pictures.
On his first court appearance he stood in the dock and looked straight at the magistrate, avoiding looking at photographers and the people in the gallery. The magistrate read out that Oscar had been charged with murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Oscar bowed his head and breathed heavily, struggling to contain his emotions and wept. I think this was when it hit him that it was not a dream but reality.
On the second day we were allowed in the court during proceedings, but again we weren’t allowed to take any photographs. I sat in front of the dock, an arm’s length from Oscar… I positioned myself to have him in the centre and also get the people in the background to illustrate the atmosphere of the courtroom.
It did not take long: the magistrate called for a short break and as he left the court I stood up as quickly as I could and took a few frames of Oscar.”
Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, lens 16-35mm at 18mm, f2.8, 1/200, ISO 1250