Coloured in, Johannesburg

Coloured In forms part of Clint Strydom’s Big City Life series, a five-year photographic exploration of Johannesburg, the city of his birth. Moving through areas of the city he had not previously known, Strydom photographed its architecture, people, and the everyday traces of life within its built environment. The photograph captures a striking residential building through its repeating geometric balconies and vivid blocks of colour. Strydom’s interest in architecture is evident in the graphic structure of the composition, but the image is equally about the lives taking place within it. Small glimpses into the verandahs and apartments interrupt the ordered geometry, revealing the personal and everyday reality behind the façade. Taken in 2018 with a Hasselblad camera, Coloured In reflects Strydom’s broader interest in finding unexpected perspectives within familiar urban environments. Rather than documenting Johannesburg as historical record, Big City Life seeks to capture something of the experience of moving through and living in the city, the visual character, atmosphere, and human presence of a particular place and time.