lens culture
Mr. Mkhize's Portrait & other stories from the new South Africa
Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin

Mr. Mkhize's Portrait & other stories from the new South Africa

Photos
5
Status
Public
Created
May 27, 2013
Updated
Feb 09, 2022
Categories
Fine Art Fine Art

Photos (5)

Cover
I came here when I was just a boy. That was what you did. You left home and came to the city to look for work. I lived alone in this hostel. Alone with 400 other men. It was dangerous in those days. The football field outside was often covered with blood. — Mr. Mkhize has lived in Madala hostel, in the heart of Johannesburg’s affluent suburbs for 15 years. © Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin
File: MrMkhize_1.jpg
According to my culture you have to be circumcised, to stay alone in the bush for three weeks and to meditate on your ancestors before you can become a man. We don’t eat meat or drink water in the first week. All these rituals go back a long long time. Like the paint on my face. . . I’ve taken time off from my university studies to come here. — 18-year-old dentistry student Mandlenkosi Noqhayi
File: MrMkhize_2.jpg
For most of the 27 years Nelson Mandela was in jail, his image was banned. Today, Mandela is everywhere. He is pillowcase and wristwatch; shebeen decoration and commemorative statue. His image is so powerful, it is again policed: reproduction requires permission from the Ministry of Trade and Industry. This Mandela model lives in the small museum at Caesar’s Palace Casino outside Johannesburg.
File: MrMkhize_3.jpg
I matriculated five years ago and in all that time I’ve worked for a month in a part-time job. It's not from laziness. Blacks from Soweto, other white people, they’re scared of Eldo’s. I have good memories, like winning my first boxing fight. But I have bad memories, too. I was raped when I was 16. — Tessa Davis is 23. She has been boxing since she was 16.
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Ponte Tower, a 52-floor circular structure, is the biggest residential building in the southern hemisphere. 20 years ago, Ponte was the place to live in downtown Johannesburg. The penthouses had mirrored bars and shag pile carpeting. Then Ponte lost its allure, becoming a no-go area during the 1990s overrun by Nigerian gangs, crack dens and prostitution. Now it has mostly immigrant residents.
File: MrMkhize_5.jpg