Norman wasn’t always headed down the creative
path, though he does recognize that he had what he
calls a “duality” in personality, often writing poetry
and drawing in secret as a boy. He remembers
rebelling against the patriarchy of his native South
Africa at a time when views were extremely
conservative. But he was lucky; he was able to
balance his creativity by also being studious and
sporty. At the age of 17 he was one of the
youngest soccer players to be drafted into the
National League.
Following in his father’s footsteps and having
qualified as a medical doctor, he practiced emergency
medicine for three years in Soweto, the all black
township on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South
Africa. Even as a doctor he recalls that at night he
would paint and sculpt and explore his passion as
an artist. He recalls one morning, “almost like an
epiphany I realized that I had to get out of South
Africa. It was getting very dangerous for me at the
time, and I also felt I needed to explore my creative
side. Very quickly, I resigned, packed a bag,
including my camera, said goodbye to everyone
and took a one way ticket to New York.”
Steve Jobs
Norman Seeff with Michael Jackson