Prolific photographer Graeme Wiliams mounts an exhibition of images from his upcoming book at Artspace in Parkwood Johannesburg from 2 -23 August.

Graeme Williams’ exhibition, entitled “The Edge of Town” is a photographic essay, exploring the tensions and interplay within a society in transition.  

Williams’ exposes fragments of life at the literal and figurative edges of town, rather than trying to construct an overall narrative about life in South Africa.

The images will be published in a book by the same name.

Says Williams, “I wanted to geographically cover as much of South Africa as I could and I have visited over a hundred towns and townships countrywide. I have never photographed in the same place twice.“

 His complex and often paradoxical images can be understood as a stream of consciousness. The body of work, like a mosaic, is made up of fragments that build a picture of the challenges, changes, frustrations and joys experienced by people who are attempting to move from the shadows into the centre stage of South African life.

“I wanted to avoid the conventional photographic documentary approach - so much a part of the apartheid documentary tradition. This meant deconstructing my habitual position of observing and photographing a subject from a strongly objective standpoint. The way I went about this was to photograph from a position that would give a sense of my involvement and hence communicate something more intimate.”

“None of the images have been digitally manipulated.”

Graeme Williams was born in Cape Town in 1961. He studied geology and statistics, but instead of pursuing a career in geology, he started freelancing as a photographer. He worked in London before settling in Johannesburg in 1988 where he worked for Reuters covering the transition to ANC rule. From the outset of his photographic life Williams has worked on his own essays and has exhibited extensively both locally and abroad.

His first book, The Floor, documented the last year of open outcry trading on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. His second book, The Inner City, is an exploration of isolation captured in images taken in Johannesburg. His third book, The Edge of Town,will be published in 2009. He has worked on photographic projects and commissions in over thirty-eight countries and his photographs have been published in major publications worldwide, including Time, National Geographic and The New York Times magazine.

The exhibition will open on the 2 August at 12h00 and will run until 23 August 2008.

Artspace is open from 10h00-17h30 Tuesday – Friday, 10h00- 15h30 on Saturdays.
www.artspace-jhb.co.za
 
ENDS.
For more information and images contact

Taryn Cohn
Media Liaison for Artspace Gallery
083 6715139
taryncohn@artsourcesouthafrica.co.za