Photographer's Research - Musa N. Nxumalo

Musa N. Nxumalo is a young, contemporary photographer from Soweto. Between 2006 and 2008, Nxumalo was introduced to photography whilst completing foundation and intermediate courses at Market Photo Workshop. Alongside him throughout these years were Sabelo Mlangeli and Thabiso Sekgala - the three of them are often associated with the new generation of contemporary South African photographers. Since 2008, Nxumalo has created two bodies of work - Alternative Kidz (2009) and In/Glorious (2012). Both of these photo series explore youth culture in South Africa. It was these projects that formed his first solo exhibition "In Search Of...", which was showcased at SMAC gallery in Stellenbosch and the Goethe Institute in Johannesburg. Below are two images from each series which I feel can reflect the type of work I am hoping to achieve during this project.

Alternative Kidz

This photograph seems to show the subjects in a more relaxed environment as they are sat together on a sofa and appear to just be talking. Typically, to see a group of youths sat around together could be considered intimidating and relating to gang culture, yet with this image there is nothing that could support this view as there are no objects that would link to this such as alcohol, cigarettes or drugs. That is what I find interesting about this photograph - at first glance it may look like a stereotypical group of youths and that there would be some use of alcohol or cigarettes, but when you look in detail you can see that there is none of this to be seen.

In this image we see a young man bending over whilst holding a football to his stomach. The use of the football links to the stereotype of young men enjoying sports and being athletic, however the fact that he is using inside is strange and could possible be the punctum of this image as football is something you would normally play outside. The fact that you can see the designer logo on his underwear could suggest that he is trying to show this off, and so implies that brands are important to young people. This could suggest that wearing popular brands and owning their clothing could be a way of being accepted into particular youth subcultures. 

In/Glorious

The images from this series are in a more energetic scenario - what appears to be a festival or concert due to the crowd of people. The subject of this image in particular is wearing a mask over his face, which could suggest that he is trying to hide himself or protect his identity from others. Even still, he appears to be having fun and letting loose as he is punching the air and posing for the camera. The fact that nobody is looking at him shows that the people in this crowd do not care what others are doing.

The man in this image is posing for the camera above him with his jacket undone, whilst he holds two drinks. This reflects the notion that youth are carefree as he does not seem to care about others around him as he looks like he is shouting at the camera. The fact that he has two drinks conforms to the stereotype that youth are rebellious and enjoy drinking alcohol. This could be an explanation as to why his jacket is undone too - the man is likely to be drunk.