Pretoria Street Photography (PSP) is an association of photographers who capture and document the urban ‘human-scapes’ of the capital city, encapsulating the daily lives of Pretoria society in using the photographic craft. Founded in April 2013 as an online based platform – photographers are encouraged to photograph and share images captured in the city metropolis, surrounding townships and rural sections of Pretoria.
Wikus de Wet, curator of the Focus on South Africa series, interviewed Emmanuel Munano and Reatile Moalusi. They are representatives of Pretoria Street Photography.
Why did you start PSP and why did you start it in the capital of South Africa?
Emmanuel: The inception of Pretoria Street Photography was actually a social awareness experiment. It was a result of an incident what happened to me personally on the outskirts of the capital city. I was violently attacked by people who stole my equipment (including my camera) and escaped. Having experienced the crime motivated the formation of a collective of photographers who could go in certain environments to photograph and understand the social landscape. I then realized that by documenting an environment, a photographer is able to translate the social life of people into imagery – These images once exhibited will open conversations about the social life of the capital city.
Pretoria is the public service and administrative hub of South Africa that means that it is in service to all South Africans. I was interested in the social life of Pretoria and the extent to which it represents the social-cultural landscape of South Africa.
In the beginning the images where just random photographs of different things in the city, and even though some of them highlighted one specific social issue – it was not enough to fully understand the social life of that specific environment. So after meeting photographers like Reatile Moalusi we decided that the best approach would be to identify social issues in the city to develop and construct a narrative approach to photographing the city as a body of work.
We realized that many people have perceptions about the capital city that may not necessarily be true. Something we do quite often is to organize environmental photo walks – where we document certain areas in the city. Through these images we get to experience the social life of Pretoria and to redefine perceptions.
How has PSP collaborated with other individuals or entities around the city in helping with redefining perspectives of the city?
Reatile: The use of photography in the city has helped us group people from different cultural backgrounds to have a new approach in documenting the city. Our experiences with the photo walks allowed us to meet people who were photographers but writers, researchers and journalists. This in turn allowed us to create a network that assisted in interrogating the deeper social dynamics of the city. This network enforces a wide and varied approach to creating images that have stronger narratives about the city. Working in collaboration with people from all these different backgrounds also allows us to gain access to spaces that we usually would not have access to.
Has PSP moved beyond just a platform where people can share stories of Pretoria?
E: Yes definitely. Not only do people share their stories but also the platform gives room for open discussions about activities that happen in the city. For us this is testimony to some kind of a social cohesion and nation building.
We read in the newspapers everyday of all the different racial, class, gender and cultural inequalities in the country. We end up segregating ourselves from the opportunity of exploring environments and validating what we read in the newspaper. We felt that photography could become a tool people can use for social awareness.
What does the future hold for PSP?
R: We are looking to expand the network of photographers that are interested in photographing capital cities. Capital cites are becoming cultural melting pots and can be better represented from narrative based approach by having photographers create bodies of work with different photographic styles.
E: Furthermore, we would like to align the work that we with individuals and institutions that are interested in the research and development of capital cities. We are also hoping to host the international community by having cultural exchanges with photographers who are doing work in other capital cities.