Isolation
There’s a cloaked figure sitting in front of a wallpapered wall. Its fingers seem to hover above the glass table, but in fact they may rest on it. No prop in the room is out of place, or kept without intention. Zoomed in, the framed print shows a row of busts. The stoic male faces on display are from another time, yet the letters that might have indicated who they are—and for what reasons they have been made into monuments—are too tiny to be read. Add this anonymity to that of the central figure, and this photograph is caught in a time both ghostly and human.
— Emmanuel Iduma
“You are not the work you do; you are the person you are.”
The image was taken in my grandmother's house dining room. The image of myself pictured inside my grandmother's dining room was a reenactment of iconic paintings of the biblical 12 disciples during the Last Supper, since the body of work touches on spirituality. I then began to ask questions around my own personal spiritual purpose in relation to religious belief systems, since I grew up in a predominantly Seventh-Day Adventist family.
This photograph is one of the core images that depicts the visual narrative of the body of work titled, Ukuzihlukanisa/Isolation. I decided to turn his camera on myself as the primary subject of the series. I began the journey to unravel my existence which is unlike the purity of angels. I used household materials in my attempt to connect to the holier than thou state of purity with full awareness that such a state does not exist.
If you're not married to it, then don't do it. That's documentary photography for me. I think it can be impactful in the sense that what comes from within is beautiful. You are not the work you do; you are the person you are.
— Mpumelelo Buthelezi
About Mpumelelo Buthelezi
Mpumelelo Buthelezi is a South African photographer who lives and works in Johannesburg. He completed his Photojournalism and Documentary Photography degree at the Market Photo Workshop in 2017. He lives and works in Johannebsurg, South Africa. See more of his work on Fairpicture, Instagram, and follow him on LinkedIn.
Last Week — “The Jump,” by Joe Penney
For me, photography is a way to interact with the divine. When I take a photograph I like, when I capture how light exquisitely falls on someone, or when I make a composition that excites me, it really feels like I'm connecting with a higher being. Like I'm tapping into something that goes beyond me or the person I'm photographing.
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Every Wednesday I feature one photograph and the photographer who took it: you’d read a short caption from me, and a statement from the photographer. Every Saturday, between June 3–August 19, I’m writing a series of micro-essays in response to sequences of photographs previously featured on the newsletter. My hope is to engage with early to mid-career African photographers, and to create a platform in which photographers lead the cataloguing and criticism of their work.
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