Caroline Suzman – I Declare I Am Here

Description

‘In the series,  I Declare I Am Here, photographer Caroline Suzman reflects on Johannesburg as a city of shadows and dreams. Pedestrians streaming in and out of the so-called City of Gold navigate architecture from a bygone era with resilience, grit and grace. The photographs record fleeting interactions between the photographer, the inhabitants and the city environment; peeling walls, brut graffiti-covered concrete pillars and flyovers, littered pavements and potholed streets. Combinations of traditional dress and street fashion reflect the hybrid identities and personal creativity of passers-by. In seeking out unexpected matches between the streets and the people who pass along them,Suzman’s intention was to transmit a sense of the soul, vitality and radical changeability of Johannesburg. This body of work was completed in 2019, the 25th year of democracy in South Africa. When explaining his use of black and white film during the years of apartheid, South African photographer David Goldblatt famously said, ‘Colour was too sweet for apartheid.’ Several decades later, those who walk the streets of Johannesburg announce their presence via an assembly of colour and pattern. Street art and gritty urban palimpsests are the backdrops against which the people of the city declare themselves, their stances and sartorial choices echoing patterns in the urban fabric. Juxtapositions of culture, personal style and inner-city ephemera provide snap readings of a complex city and offer glimpses into the deeper urban strains of heritage, migration, xenophobia, crime, security, faith, aspiration and adaptation.’ – Visual culture writer Alexandra Dodd, author of David Goldblatt: The Last Interview (Steidl, 2019)

I Declare I Am Here is a compilation of 24 photographs from Suzman’s series printed as functional postcards. Gift bag included in purchase.

Copyright: Caroline Suzman