Billy Monk
The Catacombs, 14 October 1967
Lot Estimate
ZAR 25 000 - 35 000
Location
Cape Town
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About this Item
South African 1937-1982
The Catacombs, 14 October 1967
1967
embossed with the artist's chopmark in the margin; from an edition of 12
pigment ink on archival paper
image size: 61,5 by 42cm; 81 by 60 by 3,5cm including frame
Notes
"Billy Monk worked as a bouncer in 1960s Cape Town. Armed with a camera, he also took photographs of partygoers inside nightclubs like The Catacombs. Housing revellers of all creeds and colours, these dockside venues illustrated both forms of the word 'underground'. His access to this cross-section of society allowed him to photograph scenes of uncensored joy, passion and debauchery not often associated with apartheid-era South Africa."1
1(2019) Latitudes Online, 'Unseen' by the Billy Monk Collection, online, https://editorial.latitudes.online/viewing-rooms/unseen-by-the-billy-monk-collection/, accessed 25 August 2025.
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