Cape Town bustles, booms, and lights up the vision of what an extraordinarily diverse city should be. This city however, wears an aesthetic mask to hide a darker part of its culture. Poised and present on a vast array of Table Mountain postcards, printed bags, and countless merchandise, Cape town is not as postcard-pretty as it seems.
I decided to photograph the workers of this city, both government-employed and hawkers who all have the same goal - earn enough to survive. These photographs act as a brief exploration of the unacknowledged effort, time, and strenuous work of our Cape Tonian laborers that many of our population take for granted. This idea links in with the unwillingness of so many of our city's people to support our local market. The vast majority of South Africans have lost touch with not only our vibrant culture but the very people that help make our country what it is.
Despite recent government promises, unemployment rates continue to skyrocket and even those that are employed by the government earn an overwhelmingly low salary to survive off. There’s no denying the need for large corporate businesses and mega monopolistic food stores but we need to flip the coin. Purchasing fresh food from street vendors, beaded birthday gifts or home decor flowers from African hawkers makes the world of a difference.
Follow this link for a fresh look at my photographic experience with this project:
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