Yeoville Today

In 1987, my Living in Yeoville project was exhibited at the Market Photo Gallery in Johannesburg. All of the photographs were taken within a mile from my home.

Recently I had reason to re-examine this work and, with the added weight of time, its significance seemed to have strengthened. This re-evaluation compelled me to return to the streets of Yeoville, where I have begun to photograph daily life once more.

The Yeoville I returned to has changed immensely over the last two decades. It faces great challenges, including widespread poverty and a decline in public infrastructure, but it also has a remarkable vibrancy, energy and creativity. Most of the white community for whom the area was once reserved have left. Instead the community is now made up of a predominantly African Diaspora, with large Francophone West African, Ethiopian, Nigerian and Zimbabwean populations.

While many positive changes have taken place since the 1980s, South Africa remains filled with apartheid’s echoes.