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London’s NOW Gallery Celebrates South African Photographers

London's NOW Gallery Celebrates South African Photographers
Photographs taken by (from left to right): Bee Diamondhead, Fede Kortez, and Anita Hlazo.

The NOW Gallery in London will present its annual Human Stories exhibition series, this year showcasing South African photographers.

The 2023 Human Stories exhibition will run from Wednesday, October 11, through Sunday, November 19, and brings “together six photographers documenting the diverse culture of their home nation, framed by a complex and sometimes turbulent political, socio-economic and cultural landscape,” the NOW gallery says in a release.

“As South Africa faces a continuous decline in basic services like clean water and rapidly rising youth unemployment, the country’s young generation ‘Ama2000s’ [Gen Z] are boldly and irreverently injecting a fresh creative energy into the global cultural scene through visual culture, music, and fashion,” says NOW gallery.

“50 years after the Soweto student uprisings and 30 years into the new South African democracy, NOW Gallery features six photographic diegeses, surveying South African cities. The six chosen artists capture the creative empowerment through artistic provocation, individualism, and authorship through a lens of youth-subcultural movements.”

NOW Gallery curator Kaia Charles described her excitement for the exhibition, saying, “We are thrilled to feature exceptional South African talent in sharing their creativity through lived experiences. The show will reflect a fresh creative agency that embodies the evocative music culture, distinct sense of identity, and political articulation of the young people of South Africa.”

Artists featured in the exhibit include Bee Diamondhead, Anita Hlazo, Fede Kortez, Karabo Mooki, Ben Moyo, Aart Verrips, and Nikki Zakkas.

A photograph shows a man dancing covering in an ochre pigment.
Bee Diamondhead
A man stands on brick-red stand, covered in white pigment.
Bee Diamondhead
A man looks over his shoulder, covered in red pigment with shell necklaces draped over his back.
Bee Diamondhead

Diamondhead’s work centers three queer, male musicians, celebrating their “beauty, softness, and vulnerability” while simultaneously debunking the stereotypes of the South African music, NOW Gallery Describes.

A man covered in red pigment stand above a pile of sand in the same color.
Bee Diamondhead
A man in covered in ochre pigment stands on a stool.
Bee Diamondhead
A man is seen from the waist up coveredin white pigment.
Bee Diamondhead

“Diamondhead critiques perpetual toxic masculinity and acknowledges that her country South Africa has the [number one] gender-based violence rate in the world,” NOW Gallery’s release states.

A woman poses and children smile in a group.
Anita Hlazo
A woman in an alley.
Anita Hlazo
A woman poses, standing in front of a bus.
Anita Hlazo
A woman poses amid a crowd of people on a busy train.
Anita Hlazo

Hlazo focuses her attention toward Nyanga, a township situated in the Western Cape and Cape Town. Her portraits look at the blended Ama2000s, or Gen Z, aesthetic.

A portrait of a woman in earmuffs looking at the camera.
Anita Hlazo

A woman sits, posing at the camera.
Anita Hlazo

“Her evolving style and identity of a Black ‘Alternative’ presenting girl mixes pop and grunge subcultures. Piercings, tattoos, and platformed boots express the unapologetically creative ‘goth girl’. Hlazo’s portraits are contextualised by the built environment and communities of her township (Ekasi),” NOW Gallery writes.

A person dressed in lavender leans against a small light blue car.
Fede Kortez
A profile portrait against a bright red wall.
Fede Kortez

In Cape Town Vibes, Kortez offers a technicolor look at the neighborhoods of Bo-Kaap and Woodstock neighbourhoods in Cape Town, known for their Muslim cultural identities.

A woman in light pink poses against a darker pink wall.
Fede Kortez
One man trims another's hair outdoors.
Fede Kortez

A girls stands by a road with a skateboard.

Two girls stand under a basketball hoop with skateboards.
Karabo Mooki

A girl leans her chin forward on a skateboard.

Mooki’s work depicts “Island Gals,” a skateboarding community made up of a tightly-knit crew of Black women and queer identities based in Johannesburg and Soweto.”

A girl sits on a skateboard placed on a ramp.

A girl stands holding a skateboard.
Fede Kortez

“The young women in this series are pushing borders, and gaining greater recognition within skateboarding by reclaiming their right to appear in the places they skate. The collective are declaring the right to protest to South Africa’s tumultuous history of gender-based violence,” the release from NOW Gallery reads.

Three silhouettes pose holding a giant spool and giant sewing needle.
Aart Verrips
A person covered in a multicolored full-body suit holds a matching ball by their waist.
Aart Verrips

Four black silhouettes pose holding large white bricks.

Three silhouettes pose together.
Aart Verrips

Verrips explores “the rainbow nation,” a term coined by then-Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu describing the diversity of the country.

A silhouette holds a ball overhead.
Aart Verrips

A black silhouette stands on a giant spool, holding an equally large sewing needle.

A black silhouette holds a large white block.
Aart Verrips

“Verrips explores the intersection of music, performance, and fashion through subcultural movements like Amapiano and vivid vogue nights,” says NOW Gallery.

A man poses against a colorful sign.
Nikki Zakkas
A woman fixes up her makeup with a handheld mirror in a bathroom.
Nikki Zakkas
A girl stands in front of a storefront with many signs covering the windows.
Nikki Zakkas

And Zakkas showcases a diverse handful of five young people, photographed in areas of importance to each subject.

A girl plays the guitar outside.
Nikki Zakkas
A woman in bright pink sings in a church.
Nikki Zakkas
A man stands as the sky turns dark in the background.
Nikki Zakkas

“The images are populated by symbolic clues to their personalities and cultural backgrounds,” notes NOW Gallery. “Zakkas is keen to share cultural richness, diversity, and pride through a vibrant tapestry of experiences.”


Image credits: Photographs by Bee Diamondhead, Fede Kortez, and Anita Hlazo.

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