Jodi Bieber’s images show the growth of a whole nation.

The French have the saying entre chien et loup. It refers to the twilight in the mornings or evenings when it’s not possible to tell a dog from a wolf. And when a respectable person can look like a criminal and the devil like a saint.

This is where Jodi Bieber got the name for her series Between Dogs and Wolves, which tells about a ten-year-long dark moment in the history of South Africa. It started in 1993, just before South Africa’s first democratic elections which brought Nelson Mandela’s ANC to power and ended decades of apartheid policies. For the first time all the ethnic groups could participate in the elections of a country with a history riven by conflicts between different population groups, between the indigenous peoples and migrants from different parts of the world.

The transition from an oppressive system towards democracy was not painless. Despite the prospect of better times, the stench of death floated over South Africa. Bieber also lost some of her photographer colleagues. Ken Oosterbroek, who gave Bieber her first opportunity as a photographer, was killed in crossfire. Abdul Shariff was shot. Kevin Carter and Gary Bernard committed suicide. Carter and Oosterbroek belonged to the legendary Bang Bang Club, a group of four photojournalists who were committed to documenting violent conflicts in South Africa’s explosive townships.

Bieber grew up in a white middle class family. It was during her first year as a photographer in The Star newspaper that her eyes suddenly opened to what was really happening in South Africa. It was a shock awakening. She started photographing young South Africans living on the edge of society.

It was through photography that Bieber began to discover her home country.

On South Africa

In the middle of Johannesburg there is a high building, Hillbrow Tower, which often appears in postcards of the city. In its shadow is Hillbrow, a former residential area for whites now deserted by the white middle class, which has degenerated into a kind of a slum in the middle of the metropolis. The area is notorious for prostitution, drug dealing and other crime, but ordinary people are also living there. The authorities are trying to clean up the area.

For her series Going Home, Bieber got herself access into a massive police operation that was trying to tackle illegal immigration. She followed the deportation of illegal immigrants from Hillbrow to the Lindela repatriation centre, from there to the prison train that took the immigrants to the border, and finally to Mozambique to the home of one of the deported.

“It was difficult to work, as is always the case in these kinds of projects. If I was asked to do this again, I would refuse. I protect myself and don’t accept all assignments because I know what to expect and how tough it is emotionally.”

Bieber reminds us that the plight of immigrants is also visible in Europe, if we don’t close our eyes to it.

“When I’m in Paris for example and see an African, I know how hard it is for him. It’s not his culture. He is there because the world is fucked up.”

In the rest of the world Bieber’s home country is mainly known for apartheid, HIV, crime, unrest, corruption and poverty. Bieber’s book Soweto, published last year, breaks the stereotypes and presents a South Africa that is communal and has a joy for living.

“South Africa has changed completely in the time that I have been a photographer, and in a positive direction. We can also live a completely normal life, have holidays, go to the shopping centres and the movies, drink coffee. It’s just that this is rarely told in the newspapers. Of course there are things that have to be taken care of, just like in all countries, but I’m optimistic regarding South Africa.”

On the power of photography

Once again Bieber has returned to her home in Johannesburg, for a moment. The next day she is already going to Cape Town and then to London in a few days to continue a project.

“It’s busy but in a good way. This has been a very different year. A wonderful year, I’m enjoying it to the full. Life is good,” Bieber sighs and smiles.

When her picture of Bibi Aisha, an Afghan girl mutilated by her husband, was published on the cover of Time magazine, Bieber’s life changed and the media circus started. Bieber has photographed maltreated and long-suffering women throughout her career, but it is Bibi Aisha’s image that has directly changed the life of her subject for the better. It is the image that people recognise everywhere.

“I have learned that photography is very powerful. When people get interested and a photograph appeals to their emotions, it can increase awareness and drive change. But I would never say to any of my subjects that this is going to change your life, because it does not always happen. I would never say that. Never in a million years.”

The picture of Aisha is a conscious reference to Steve McCurry’s famous image of young, green-eyed Afghan girl Sharbat Gula, published on the cover of National Geographic in 1985.

“McCurry’s image was on my mind when I took Bibi Aisha’s picture. In some way it is a similar, simple portrait, but its purpose is to add a new layer of history. The pictures have two different periods in the history of Afghanistan. That picture did not ‘just happen’. It is the sum of my work and beliefs so far.”

On ambassadors and serial killers

In her series Women who Murder their Husbands, Bieber photographed South African women who were serving long jail sentences for killing their husbands. She had to shoot the series in one day because it was difficult to get access to the prison.

The women lived in a very confined space. Bieber took a portrait of each woman and another picture of what was next to them. She interviewed each woman. They all had a different story but each one said they had killed in order to protect themselves.

The events leading to the murders were sad listening. There had been a fight at home. Pushing and hitting, until the woman had grabbed a knife and plunged it into her husband.

“The women had been abused in many ways. The men had forced them to do unthinkable things like having sex with their best friend. The only way out was to kill the husband. That’s the solution the women who had been assaulted by their men ended up with, either accidentally or in a premeditated way.”

With Between Dogs and Wolves Bieber already showed that there is some light in the darkness. People with very difficult lives still somehow find the strength to survive.

“We all have some darkness and we all have some light in us, yin and yang,” says Bieber.

Then she starts to laugh.

“If I was not a photographer, I would either be an ambassador or a profiler of serial killers.  Definitely not the serial killer.”

Bieber does not get inspiration from photographs or art but rather from her own everyday experiences.

“My greatest achievement is this life. I travel around the world and meet interesting people. That’s what it is. Blessed, enriching life,” she says.

And then she smiles again.