Postcard from Johannesburg

The photographer Krisanne Johnson believes you can learn many things about a country by the way youth live—from fashion to music to home environments.

Image: Krisanne Johnson.

Like many others, US photographer Krisanne Johnson headed to South Africa earlier this month but, as The New Yorker points out, she didn’t go there for the football. Johnson has been to South Africa several times over the years to document youth culture in Johannesburg, including the culture surrounding Kwaito and, most recently, the fashion movement known as the Smarteez.

On her work, Johnson states: “I believe you can learn many things about a country by the way youth live—from fashion to music to home environments. And this is a recurring theme in most of my work, whether in the United States or southern Africa.” I like this.

You can view more of Johnson’s excellent pictures from across southern Africa and the United States here.

Further Reading

Kwame Nkrumah today

New documents looking at British and American involvement in overthrowing Kwame Nkrumah give us pause to reflect on his legacy, and its resonances today.

Goodbye, Piassa

The demolition of an historic district in Addis Ababa shows a central contradiction of modernization: the desire to improve the country while devaluing its people and culture.