Within the confined space of a suburban estate in Pretoria, South Africa one can find children playing outside, bicycles in the front yards and the resident ducks crossing the street on a daily basis. In between the manicured gardens, tree shaded walkways and pastel perfect homes, you can begin to imagine some kind of utopia. A utopia surrounded by high, electrified walls and infrared cameras. Keeping the residents safe and the rest of the world out. A community formed through a somewhat false sense of safety. Residents find themselves in a liminal space where the idea of community is the selling point to outsiders, but overtly big houses and a sense of alienation leaves an unavoidable whimper of loneliness. Interacting with the five households represented in this project will leave you, the viewer, with a sense of yearning for a life unknown to most South Africans but I also hope that you will be reminded that nothing is ever as perfect as it seems and even in a subtopia you can create your own perfect sense of calm.
Tannie Esmé & Milo
"Ek glo in die beginsel van less is more..."
Statige Dame
'n Lewe vol Herinneringe
"Photography is the act of many and a photograph is a sampling or a trace of a space of human relations." Ariella Azoulay
Pieter & Dobby
"Vir my Sussie"
Quest Haven
"Christine, we forgot the garlic!"
"I began recognising myself as a social being, recognising the camera as a social instrument, in that I could use it as a form of social mediation." Douglas Heubler
Cocktails in die Suburbs
Lily in the Jungle
