Pieter and Maryna Vermeulen with Timana Phosiwa
Photograph
2006 (photographed), 2010 (printed)
2006 (photographed), 2010 (printed)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Pieter Hugo (born Johannesburg, 1976), a self-taught photographer and filmmaker, is often drawn to uncomfortable subjects whose distinctive features, clothing and settings all reveal details about their social situation. In this work, a startling portrait of a new South African family, Hugo captures a white couple, the man gripping a prosthetic leg, the woman proud but poor, sitting on a discarded car seat with a black infant tenderly held on her lap. The sitters pose self consciously for the camera, their lives laid bare for perusal. The picture comes from the series Messina/Musina consisting mainly of portraits of black and white families and individuals. The people in his portraits allude to a complex web of social, economic and political relations in an isolated community. Hugo aims for complexity rather than clichés about Africa, which often makes people feel uncomfortable. As Hugo puts it, 'I don't think art has a responsibility to be pretty.'
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Titles |
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Materials and techniques | C-print photograph |
Brief description | C-print photograph, 'Pieter and Maryna Vermeulen with Timana Phosiwa', from the series 'Messina/Musina', by Pieter Hugo, South Africa, 2006 |
Physical description | C-print photograph of a bare-footed white women and a white bare-chested man with prothetic leg seated on a discarded car seat. The women is holding a small black child on her lap. |
Dimensions |
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Production type | Limited edition |
Copy number | 1/2 |
Object history | Included in exhibition 'Figures & Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography' at the V&A, 12 April - 17 July 2011. |
Summary | Pieter Hugo (born Johannesburg, 1976), a self-taught photographer and filmmaker, is often drawn to uncomfortable subjects whose distinctive features, clothing and settings all reveal details about their social situation. In this work, a startling portrait of a new South African family, Hugo captures a white couple, the man gripping a prosthetic leg, the woman proud but poor, sitting on a discarded car seat with a black infant tenderly held on her lap. The sitters pose self consciously for the camera, their lives laid bare for perusal. The picture comes from the series Messina/Musina consisting mainly of portraits of black and white families and individuals. The people in his portraits allude to a complex web of social, economic and political relations in an isolated community. Hugo aims for complexity rather than clichés about Africa, which often makes people feel uncomfortable. As Hugo puts it, 'I don't think art has a responsibility to be pretty.' |
Bibliographic reference | Figures and Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography
Germany: Steidl, 2011
image appears on page 10 and 56 |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.422-2011 |
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Record created | August 22, 2011 |
Record URL |
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