We are sad to say that, just before the dawn of the new year, Gisèle Wulfsohn passed away. Gisèle was a freelance photographer in South Africa, specialising in portraiture, education, health and gender issues. Above all she was the beloved wife of our colleague Mark Turpin. Gisèle had been ill for some time, but she never surrendered in her battle with lung cancer - insisting on taking her tablets right up to the day before she died, on December 27th.
Her photographs have been published all over the world, in publications as varied as The Lancet and Mother Jones, The Economist, Marie Claire and Der Spiegel. Gisèle has always been interested in social issues. Her picture of Frances Baard (a female 'Mandela' - a great heroine of the South African struggle) is hanging in the 'Africa Room' at the Maliebaan, our office in Utrecht. You can see that particular photo in the background of Gisèle's portrait.
Many of us at Kessels & Smit have seen Gisèle in action as professional photographer, resulting in the best pictures taken of many of us. Her work has become part of Kessels & Smit, on our business cards, websites and other media. We are grateful that we could enjoy her talent in this way and also through her work she will stay connected to us.
She will be enormously missed.... Our thoughts are with Mark and their sons Joe and Sam.
Link to the obituary notice in the Mail & Guardian newspaper:
http://mg.co.za/article/2012-01-06-gisle-wulfsohn-a-selfportrait-of-courage