About this artwork
Born in rural South Africa and trained at Johannesburg’s Market Photo Workshop—a combined school, gallery, and project space that has been pivotal to photographic education in South Africa—Sabelo Mlangeni explores personal dignity in environments that often erase it. This intimate image is set in an all-male hostel occupied by taxi drivers, security guards, and other ubiquitous yet largely invisible members of society, including those seeking work. After taking two years to gain residents’ trust, Mlangeni lived for weeks in the hostel. The lingering effects of apartheid—South Africa’s former system of legalized segregation—limit the racial makeup and economic prospects of residents and foster assumptions about their purported violence and illegal activities. Looking past these stereotypes led Mlangeni to photograph fragments of life that “capture the normality that exists in an abnormal, unnatural situation.”
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Photography and Media
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Artist
- Sabelo Mlangeni
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Title
- Morning Blues, from the series "Men Only"
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Place
- Africa (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- Made 2009
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Medium
- Gelatin silver print
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Dimensions
- Image: 34.5 × 23 cm (13 5/8 × 9 1/16 in.); Paper: 37.6 × 25.8 cm (14 13/16 × 10 3/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- Purchased with funds provided by an anonymous donor
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Reference Number
- 2016.30
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Copyright
- © Sabelo Mlangeni
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
