The artist writes

I grew up in Sharpeville unaware that it had a politically significant history.

It was only in my late teens that I was exposed to books that had sections dedicated to the Sharpeville massacre.

The image on the front cover of a book titled An Ordinary Atrocity: Sharpeville and Its Massacre by Philip Frankel haunted me for a very long time. After several readings I noticed a lack of contemporary visual material about Sharpeville. I took it upon myself to visually document Sharpeville as I know it. For the past few years I have dedicated my photography practice to this cause.

The everyday life challenges and activities that are reflected in my images are a common characteristic of the present realities of life in South African townships. In the process of producing this body of work, I feel that I have been able to rethink the mainstream portrayal of township life and create a new vision for myself.

I have shaped this project in an unstructured and spontaneous manner – walking through the streets and photographing various aspects of my experience. In the process of walking the streets, I have become more aware as well as more engaged with my community. I have found that within the ordinary I can discover the extraordinary.

The work was completed during the Tierney Fellowship mentorship programme, in partnership with the Market Photo Workshop.