Lefa 5

Mohau Modisakeng’s photographic work is essentially autobiographical. He uses costumes, props, and his own body to address the trauma and loss in his life as well as the collective black experience of apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa. (Apartheid was the institutional racial segregation and discrimination in South Africa from 1948 to 1991.) In this photo, he shows himself buried in coal to reflect on South Africa’s history of exploiting its underground natural resources and the young black men who mine them. While inherently political, Modisakeng’s work often has a strong spiritual component: here, his slightly opened hands and eyes hint at rebirth and healing.