A City Refracted

Johannesburg's inner city has, since the mining town's formation, served as the first stop for new arrivals. As such it has always been vibrant and in a constant state of flux. Grame Williams initially started photographing the area in the nineties when racial segregation laws were being lifted and black South Africans had begun moving from the outlying townships to the city. During the past two decades, simultaneous to white people vacating the inner city, increasingly the area has become home to new immigrants from all over Africa. The city's increasing social polarizations have resulted in him being an outsider in a neighborhood that is less than 10 minutes' drive from his home. This has allowed Williams to transform his engagement with the subject from the viewpoint of the local to that of the foreigner. This body of work, A City Refracted, echoes his altered vision - both photographically as well as in his view of the country's future.

Graeme Williams’ work is housed in the permanent collections of numerous institutions, including The Smithsonian (USA), Duke University (USA), and the University of Cape Town. He has staged solo exhibitions in Johannesburg, New York and Paris and has contributed to many combined shows. These include two curated exhibitions showcasing contemporary South African photography; the 2011 Figures and Fictions exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and the 2014 Apartheid and After exhibition at Huis Marseille in Amsterdam. In 2013 he was awarded the POPCAP Prize for Contemporary African Photography as well as the Ernest Cole Book Award for the series A City Refracted.