For documentary photographer, Toka Hlongwane, a new photo series is meant to capture the experiences of the people he’s met on his journeys in South Africa and to convey what it means to be black there. At times gritty and disturbing, the images are nonetheless evocative of day-to-day life in the country. Istayela Baba Wam (2017) is a picture of a dapper old man in Johannesburg’s CBD dressed to the nines with gold rings, gold chains and gold-tinged spectacles. With Impilo ka Darkie, Hlongwane has offered us an imperfect but compelling insight into the lives of the people he has encountered through his travels. Whether this is the sum total of Black experience will be up to the viewer to decide.
SOURCE: OKAYAFRICA
