This project captures the perilous journey to and from school in the Cape Flats through poetry, analog photography, and handmade art.
Making our way home from school is a simple, nostalgic, universal activity we can all relate to. This project explores the tumultuous public lives of young people in the gang-governed Cape Flats area of Cape Town, South Africa, where their daily commute carries the risk of death.
Together we walk to and home from school avoiding the daily threat of gang crossfire.
Using handmade, lo-fi experimental techniques, this project explores young lives shaped by the constant threat of gang crossfire. Through poetry, analog photography, drawings, collages, and cyanotypes, we create an intimate portrayal of adolescence amidst stark social divides.
A partnership to produce material that offers a rare insight into the confusing and challenging world of adolescence.
___
That silky blue, that soft, fading light—who will we see?
The red-painted corner shop
Once, a tornado ripped through Manenberg,
The pastor stands firm,
hands in pockets,
rocking on his heels.
Behind the church,
The bendy fence,
boys lean,
He can’t cross the street—he’d be shot. A Montague.
Shadows of clean laundry dance across the court.
She kneels to watch a yellow daisy break through cement, defiant.
And still, that soft, soft blue light lingers
___
This project explores the tumultuous public life of young people in the gang-governed Cape Flats area of Cape Town, South Africa. Dialogue forms as cameras change hands between me and the youth—creating a collaborative effort to produce material that offers a rare insight into the confusing and challenging world of adolescence.
This project is a collaboration between myself and participants from four NGOs in the Cape Flats, using analog photography, drawings, collages, and cyanotypes. Created through lo-fi, experimental techniques, the work captures the lives of young people navigating the constant threat of gang crossfire in their neighborhoods. Focused on the journey home from school, a universal yet dangerous experience in South Africa, I examine how adolescents move through spaces marked by invisible but deadly boundaries.
The work is set in areas like Manenberg, Lavender Hill, Vrygrond, Athlone, and Mitchells Plain, where gang violence is pervasive. Rather than simply documenting, I share my camera and lead analog workshops, allowing participants to capture their world from a first-person perspective. This collaborative approach offers a rare and intimate insight into the challenges of adolescence in a society marked by stark social divides.
___
*All images in black and white 35mm created by participants.
All cyanotypes are drawings and poems made by participants and turned into cyanotypes.
For more images and information about the work please contact Laura here.
Making our way home from school is a simple, nostalgic, universal activity we can all relate to. This project explores the tumultuous public lives of young people in the gang-governed Cape Flats area of Cape Town, South Africa, where their daily commute carries the risk of death.
Together we walk to and home from school avoiding the daily threat of gang crossfire.
Using handmade, lo-fi experimental techniques, this project explores young lives shaped by the constant threat of gang crossfire. Through poetry, analog photography, drawings, collages, and cyanotypes, we create an intimate portrayal of adolescence amidst stark social divides.
A partnership to produce material that offers a rare insight into the confusing and challenging world of adolescence.
___
That silky blue, that soft, fading light—who will we see?
The red-painted corner shop
Once, a tornado ripped through Manenberg,
The pastor stands firm,
hands in pockets,
rocking on his heels.
Behind the church,
The bendy fence,
boys lean,
He can’t cross the street—he’d be shot. A Montague.
Shadows of clean laundry dance across the court.
She kneels to watch a yellow daisy break through cement, defiant.
And still, that soft, soft blue light lingers
___
This project explores the tumultuous public life of young people in the gang-governed Cape Flats area of Cape Town, South Africa. Dialogue forms as cameras change hands between me and the youth—creating a collaborative effort to produce material that offers a rare insight into the confusing and challenging world of adolescence.
This project is a collaboration between myself and participants from four NGOs in the Cape Flats, using analog photography, drawings, collages, and cyanotypes. Created through lo-fi, experimental techniques, the work captures the lives of young people navigating the constant threat of gang crossfire in their neighborhoods. Focused on the journey home from school, a universal yet dangerous experience in South Africa, I examine how adolescents move through spaces marked by invisible but deadly boundaries.
The work is set in areas like Manenberg, Lavender Hill, Vrygrond, Athlone, and Mitchells Plain, where gang violence is pervasive. Rather than simply documenting, I share my camera and lead analog workshops, allowing participants to capture their world from a first-person perspective. This collaborative approach offers a rare and intimate insight into the challenges of adolescence in a society marked by stark social divides.
___
*All images in black and white 35mm created by participants.
All cyanotypes are drawings and poems made by participants and turned into cyanotypes.
For more images and information about the work please contact Laura here.
