CONFRONTING REALITY
Hundreds of residents from Eureka Estate near Elsies River were accommodated in containers for six weeks in 2013 while the City upgraded their rental homes. Here, some gather around a fire in preparation for a cold night. This is one of the images in Cape Flats photographic artist Ashley Walters’ exhibition, which opens today.
A CAPE FLATS photographic artist has beaten the odds. His work, showcasing the lives of people living in Uitsig and its surrounding areas, is being exhibited at a mainstream gallery in Bellville.
Growing up in a poor family in Uitsig, surrounded by impoverished communities, Ashley Walters always had a love for drawing and image photography, but hardly dared believe that one day his own work would be exhibited at a respected gallery.
Walters, 29, is delighted that he is to exhibit a collection of his images at a solo exhibition at the Sanlam Art Gallery from today.
Part of the exhibit is a 10-minute video he shot of the communities surrounding Uitsig. This exhibition represents the culmination of two years of work, said Walters.
Walters’s exhibit consists of photographs depicting Cape Flats life, detailing the daily struggle to survive that many people experience in Uitsig, Parow Industria, Ravensmead, Florida, Cravenby, Belhar and Eureka.
The photographs also celebrate life in these areas, despite the often dire situations people find themselves in.
“I am very excited and nervous about the exhibition,” Walters said, adding he thought about the photos a lot before capturing them.
He said he makes money out of selling the images, but not as much as he would have wanted.
“I am hoping the people who come to the exhibition would be interested in buying some (photographs),” he said.
With a degree in fine arts and currently studying towards a Master’s, Walters has used his photographic talent to put food on the table for his family.
While studying at St Andrew’s Technical High in Eersterivier, he cultivated a passion for photography. He was fascinated by how people lived in his community and wanted to document it.
Walters is hoping that by going solo at the Sanlam Art Gallery, he will get exposure and other galleries might show an interest in his work.
His photographic experience has been shaped by input from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, where he studied for two years.
Sanlam Art Gallery curator Stefan Hundt said all systems were in place for tonight’s exhibition, adding that Walters would go to the exhibition only on Saturday, when he would speak about his work.
He said he had chosen Walters because of the “superb quality and execution” of his photographs.
Hundt said the Cape Flats has been photographed in various social-documentary styles by seasoned photographers, “but I am not aware of any photographer who has grown up on the Cape Flats who has produced a photographic essay of the quality and extent that Ashley has”.
Hundt said Walters’s exhibition provides an insider’s view of the photographed areas without being judgemental.