Nonzuzo Gxekwa

Lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa

Artist statement

Johannesburg is a fascinating city in that most of its people who live there are not from there, myself included. I, as a black female photographer, have a different engagement to the city. My movements have to shift as the day changes. I can’t stay till dark. Can’t pick up my phone in some places. Can’t stand out. I am constantly aware of its people, their movements and their relationship to the mechanisms of it’s being. The city is alive. Constantly. My street photography is influenced by the people wandering the very streets that I commute to and from work. We have a commuter system as opposed to a transport system, so the majority of the cities movement is to and from work. I deeply engage with its people, from a distance. I watch them wander as I wander. My street photography of Johannesburg City, aptly title Wanderer// Wanderer is a true reflection of what excites my eye. The colors, the people, their movement and their individual authenticity continuously encourage me to seek out its most beautiful and intimate moments. As one of the most dangerous cities for a woman, I see it as a place of life, worship, business and family engagements. Some sort of peace has come of it in my daily commutes and strolls. The inner city is an experience and I continuously engage it in in my work

Artwork