A City Refracted

Description

Johannesburg’s inner city has, since the mining town’s formation, served as the first stop for new arrivals. As such it has always been vibrant and in a constant state of flux. I initially started photographing the area in the nineties when racial segregation laws were being lifted and black South Africans had begun moving from outlying townships to the city. A monograph based on my black-and-white images from that period, The Inner City, was published by Ravan Press in 2000. The essay documents the period in which the city shifted from a whites-only precinct to a vibrant mixed-race area. It was the first South African urban area to suggest the possible realisation of Nelson Mandela’s dream for an integrated society. This body of work, A City Refracted, echoes my altered vision – both photographically as well as in my view of the country’s future.