A selection of images from South Africa at Liberty, #easy street and Bo-Kaap, gentrification, resistance are part of the first exhibition in the cities’ Callahan Center Art Gallery at St. Francis College.
ZAM subscribers and friends are familiar with Booley’s work. Our magazine’s Photo Edition #2 was dedicated to the ‘first act’ of his work. But now there is a perfect opportunity to discover more of his work in an exhibition hosted by the President of NY’s St. Francis College Dr Miguel Martinez-Saenz and curated by Janice Glowski, Ph.D.
Act 1 South Africa at Liberty is a selection of work from Booley’s first photography book. It represents the photographers’ experience in South Africa from the fall of Apartheid in 1994 until 2014. Capturing the faces and entering the lives of ordinary people facing hardships whilst trying to adjust to life in a ‘free South Africa’, Booley’s “South Africa at Liberty” is an important contribution to the iconography of everyday life in post-Apartheid South Africa.
Act 2 #easy street is a selection of New York street photography. Booley examines his position as an observer, exploring dominant narratives, patterns of power and the low of resources of the city. How do you understand ‘The American Dream?’, Booley asks people he meets. ‘What do they care about?’ ‘What is your dream for America?’ In Booley’s eyes, New York seems as diverse as his home country and continent – with real people who understand, care and dream.
Act 3 Bo-Kaap, gentrification, resistance - #morethanjustprimerealestate is an important contribution to what’s happening in today’s post-apartheid Cape Town and especially the Bo-Kaap, the neighbourhood where Booley grew up. Once home to a Malayan community, today the area is being gentrified into a white middle class suburb. Apartheid has been privatised.
At the opening of the exhibition on September 28, 2018, Booley intends to craft an experience of live music, dance and photography. In his words: ‘a touch point of people from different socio-economic backgrounds.
Catch a sneak preview of the exhibition here and read more about the exhibition here.
Date: 28 September |Time: 6 P.M. | Venue: Gallagher Estate, 180 Remsen Street Brooklyn Heights, New York.
