The South African photographer Zwelethu Mthethwa’s large-format photographs document the rural-industrial peripheries of South African cities and the migrant workers who live there. His first monograph, recently published by Aperture, provides an overview of his work from the last decade.
Mthethwa’s process is one of exchange and collaboration. In an interview with Isolde Brielmaier, included in the book, Mthethwa says, “It was important that I offered them the chance to decide how they wanted to be photographed, and in this way it became, in a sense, about giving them back their dignity and authorship.” Aware that he is often entering a private space, Mthethwa asks for permission before taking a portrait, and often waits patiently as his subjects, who work in cane fields and gold, quartz, and coal mines, adjust their appearance to their liking—washing or changing clothes, straightening a room. Mthethwa’s subjects appear to know their role in the image; there is a sense of agreement in his vision.
Mthethwa’s photographs suggest an energetic ambivalence between documentary photography and fine-art portraiture. (It comes as no surprise that he was trained as a painter.) In his “Interiors” series, Mthethwa frames his subjects among the decorative details of their homes: makeshift wallpaper, tablecloths, patterned linoleum, folded blankets. The way each individual organizes his space and possessions is as specific and idiosyncratic as a fingerprint. His striking photo of a man seated next to a neatly arranged collection of toiletries on a bedside table—deodorant, baby powder, a book of matches—shows how intimate these mundane and disposable objects can be.
Aperture has video of an interview with Mthethwa and the curator Okwui Enwezor; keep your eyes open for his upcoming show at Studio Museum in Harlem this July.
All images copyright Zwelethu Mthethwa.
