Crossing Strangers, Andile Buka’s debut photobook, explores the photographer’s long-term relationship with Johannesburg and the people who live there. "Walking the streets of Johannesburg plays a central role in this project. Through these walks I'm presented with spaces that are unfamiliar and unnoticed,” he says.
The self-taught photographer engages with various communities and iconic spaces such as Ponte City. His shots feature people living on the fringes and in the forgotten crevices in-between everything else.
Buka shoots purely in film, and the result is a collection of minimalist black and white street-style portraits, documentary style shots, and birds-eye views of the city. He has also created work surrounding urban black sports culture and black identity in Johannesburg.
The book includes an essay titled “Monuments To The Eternal Spaces” by Keleketla Media Arts Project co-founder Rangoato Hlasane. Published by MNK Press, an artist-run publishing project based in Tokyo, the book confirms that Buka is a truly independent practitioner with a growing artistic practice.
Buka’s work has been exhibited at the 6th annual Lagos Film Festival curated by Cristina de Middle. The festival is themed “Designing Futures” and Buka’s work has been featured alongside African heavyweights in the photography industry such as Omar Victor Diop, Chris Saunders, Nobukho Nqaba and Fabrice Monteiro. The New York Times has hailed this edition of the Lagos Film Festival as the coming of age of African photography.
Images via MNK Press
