She Bad Bad TAIV Fam Zithini?!

Photographer Nonzuzo Gxekwa and visual artist Tshepiso Moropa got together to make some magic. Below Moropa speaks about why she is drawn to Gxekwa’s work. 

Arthur Jafa once said “pictures allow you to own things. Walking down the street, there are things you see that you can’t take home with you, but you can take a picture with you. It’s a way to access the experience or the confrontation with the thing”. I think of this quote when I view Nonzuzo Gxekwa’s work. My first encounter with Nonzuzo’s photography was of her iconic photograph Pink Nun. I remember seeing this image in Fulufhelo Mobadi’s office, neatly wrapped and framed within mahogany wood panels. In the foreground, two women, appropriately dressed in pink long robes are the subject of the image. Two taxi motors on each side of the image lay within the background. It’s hard to forget the image once you see it. Just like many of her work, Nonzuzo documents and gives you slices of the Johannesburg CBD experiences through her work. She consciously composes her photography in a beautiful and sensitive way through her use of bright colours or her signature black and white photography. Whether it’s portraits or street photography, Nonzuzo pulls you in and places you in the context of the image. It was a huge honour to have collaborated with her and I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us in the near future.