While the national lockdown is keeping Covid-19 away from many South Africans, it is also keeping photographers and filmmakers away from their usual subjects.
Some Gauteng-based international visual artists are developing a bigger picture of what it looks like to be photographers and filmmakers with a global pandemic outside their doors.
From left to right: Anthony Bila, Shanay Nel, and Justice Mukheli. PHOTOS: Supplied
Lockdown losses
Covid-19 related restrictions have cleared photographer and filmmaker Justice Mukheli’s schedule of billable hours for the next three months.
Wedding and event photographer Shanay Nel, has lost more than 1 200 billable hours of work: 12 weddings that would have been documented by her business during April and May — usually their busiest months of the year. These two months’ income would have been worth six, she says.
The lockdown is disrupting Shanay Nel’s business, but is also inspiring solidarity in her industry. VIDEO: Shanay Nel
Photographer, filmmaker and creative consultant, Anthony Bila, would currently have been in the United Kingdom for an exhibition, residency and portfolio review. His tour through Africa for the making of a mini-documentary series has also been “delayed, postponed, cancelled — who knows at this stage?” he adds.
Today is my final Instagram Takeover day at @formatfestival. I'm sharing images from another project I undertook whilst in New York just before the world stood still named "Looking Glass", for more on the work visit their Instagram. Thank you for your attention, it's appreciated. pic.twitter.com/JLgPmLjC1I
— Deus Ex Machina (@AnthonyBila) April 5, 2020
Finding new voices
The coronavirus has cancelled plans on their behalf. But these artists are finding ways to keep creating meaningful work by pointing their cameras at the subjects they currently do have access to: themselves.
Bila has undertaken a one-man project as screenwriter, actor, cinematographer, editor, and director. Usually, his sole responsibility is to direct. “I’m not an actor. I shouldn’t be in front of the camera. But this isolation has forced me to go ‘Well, how would I tell this story?’ It’s kind of been my respite from the madness,” he says.
Image makers especially, must adapt to this historical time, says Robin Scher of the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg. “It’s an opportunity to share information and stories that help us move forward and learn from this experience.”
https://twitter.com/zolanimahola/status/1245388462246805504
Among those whom Mukheli has hosted in his virtual living room, has been Freshlyground lead singer, Zolani Mahola.
Mukheli is ensuring the forward movement of his creative community by hosting conversations with global creative leaders over Instagram live streams.
“I need to think about how my voice can still live on in these challenges,” Mukheli says.
Through these discussions, he introduces friends, collaborators, and his 43 000 Instagram followers to each other. In doing so, he pays homage to those who have made significant contributions to his career and gives his followers access to industry-leading discourse.
Similarly, Nel is providing value for her online community by mentoring aspiring photographers through pre-recorded online videos and one-to-one Zoom calls.
The view of Pretoria from the Union Buildings as photographed by Nel during a photoshoot in 2019. PHOTO: Shanay Greene Photography
Capturing the zeitgeist
A theme has emerged from Mukheli’s Instagram conversations: The world depends on artists to capture its collective experience and guide emotion in times of crisis. “In times like these, the world looks to art. It’s important as an artistic community to stand up and assume our roles in this time,” he says.
In a time of physical distancing and social isolation, the SA Tourism advertisement Mukheli directed for advertising agency Bomb Commercials draws attention to how intertwined physical closeness and social interaction is in South African culture. VIDEO: Bomb Commercials/YouTube
In Bila’s words, artists are being depended on to ”contribute to the soul of this season”. His camera accompanies him on essential grocery trips. Photographing taxis overloaded with essential workers, among other scenes, he hopes to provoke thought and debate which will inspire real change in a post-pandemic South Africa.
Slowing down
Although they are still creating, the lockdown has also afforded these artists the luxury of rest.
“There is a natural impulse to be productive at this time. However, there is also something to be said for taking this time to reflect,” says Goodman Gallery’s Robin Scher.
Being confined to her home has reminded Nel why she would ever want to leave it with a camera in hand in the first place: to tell real-life love stories. “It’s not about Instagram-worthy content and followers. It’s not for the glitz and the glam,” she says.
As an established international artist, Mukheli’s schedule was densely populated. He welcomes the deceleration of his daily routine as an opportunity to “experiment with processes uncommon to his practice”.
Mukheli’s work focuses on authentic African experiences. He hopes to “dismantle the negative narrative of Africa and Africans in the world” and to reclaim African stories. PHOTO: Justice Mukheli
For Bila, the physical isolation has also “prioritised human connection and storytelling”. He is anticipating the day he will get to walk the streets and tell the stories of his hometown, Tembisa, again.
Bila spent two and a half months in New York from December 2019 to February 2020. Just before he left for Johannesburg, he investigated the stigmatisation of the Chinese community in New York’s Chinatown because of the coronavirus’ Chinese origins. Pictured here, kids in Chinatown, New York on 14 February, 2020. PHOTO: Anthony Bila
It’s still dark here in April 2020. But when the lights come on again, standing exposed will be at least three photographers who have been developing in the dark more reverence for sunlight and their human subjects than ever.