Phumelele Kunene

Proposal:

‘Bad buildings’ is a phrase used to describe the state of various buildings within the city that are classified as dangerous. These buildings qualify to be labelled as such when the market value of the property is less than that of the outstanding debt of the building, or when conditions are hazardous to occupants, or where the city has initiated legal proceedings to evict tenants. When South Africa was at a point of transition in the early 1990s turmoil resulted in the inner city. Property owners neglected and abandoned their buildings leading to illegal occupation. Hijackers, or so called slumlords, in collusion with corrupt city and police officials hold onto the property and manage these building. Often the tenants rental income is diverted into the slumlords pockets and buildings are not maintained, with very large amounts of outstanding municipal bills. Some of these buildings have no electricity or running water, are over-crowded and are a fire and safety hazard.
People move in and out of the inner city every year often desperate for accommodation which leads them to settle in these bad buildings. This issue in recent years appears to be something that has been ignored both by the people and government. My project aims at identifying social, health and economic issues surrounding these bad buildings. I will show the different living conditions the residents are expected to live under despite their right to a safe and clean environment. This work aims at creating awareness about the state of various buildings in Johannesburg in the hope to help all people who are living in inhumane conditions.

Biography:

For Phumelele Kunene photography is first and foremost about engagement with the world – “it is my personal vision and interpretation of what I see around me.”

Phumelele was born in Soweto in 1992 where she spent most of her childhood before moving to Lenasia South in 1999. She is the second born and brought up by a single mother who has shaped her to be the respectable and hardworking individual that she is today.

This dynamic photographer completed her schooling in 2011 after which she worked at Multi Choice when she realized that she wanted to do something related to her passion in visuals arts. On this journey of self-discovery, Phumelele developed a strong love for photography. She decided to study at the Market Photo Workshop School of Photography in 2013 to further her skills and to start her career.

After honing an eye for the unnoticed, Phumelele completed her studies in 2014. She now runs her own photography company called ‘Still Imagery’ and is making a name for herself. She was one of six artists on a group show of Fine Art Photography, titled The Back Light Exhibition, which opened at Michael Meyersfeld Studio in March 2016. This follows her being included in the Cūriōsitās 2016 exhibition at AGOG Gallery. She also works as a Photographer and Gallery assistant at David Krut Projects, Johannesburg.

Web site: http://be.net/PhumiRayleneKunene |