Activist and photographer Gille De Vlieg was born in England. A trained nurse, she worked in Pietermaritzburg and London before moving to Johannesburg where she became a member of the Black Sash in 1982. Her activism in Black Sash led to her involvement in the Transvaal Rural Action Committee (TRAC), and an introduction into chaotic township lifestyle further inspired her to “show the alternative view of South Africa”, as she came to realise that she could be both activist and photographer.

In 1984, after documenting various “black spots” in the rural Transvaal, she met Afrapix founder member Paul Weinberg who encouraged her to join the collective photo agency and library founded two years earlier. Afrapix brought together a number of photographers who became known for using the camera as a weapon against apartheid. Before 1980, most of these photographers worked independently from each other. With the aim of stimulating documentary photography, Afrapix’s collective approach became one of sharing skills and ideas. Photography generated during this period also became known as ‘struggle photography’. Afrapix was dissolved in 1991 as South Africa’s international isolation ended.

In the late 1980s Gille De Vlieg participated in the Culture in Another South Africa Conference, Amsterdam, and other group exhibitions. In 2009 she exhibited at the National Arts Festival and at the Durban Art Gallery in an exhibition entitled ‘Rising Up Together’. She lives in KwaZulu-Natal.